JK Rowling’s crime drama Strike will return for a third series in 2018, the BBC has announced.

The programme is based on the crime novels Rowling penned under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith and the first two series – entitled The Cuckoo’s Calling and The Silkworm – have enthralled viewers.

As The Silkworm came to a conclusion on Sunday night, the BBC announced a third instalment called Career Of Evil would air next year.

Stars Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger will reprise their roles as private detective Cormoran Strike and his assistant Robin Ellacott.

The next series will see both of their lives descend into disarray when a dismembered leg is sent to Strike’s office.

Both are forced to confront ghosts from their pasts and their partnership reaches breaking point as Robin’s wedding approaches and they disagree about how to ensnare a man who abuses children.

The BBC1 series has been a huge hit with viewers and many fans posted messages on social media saying they were thrilled that it would be back.

However, several joked that a year was too long to wait.

“Wtf #BBC! I have to wait a whole year before more #Strike!? I could be dead before then!” said one viewer on Twitter.

“Why do we have to wait till next year? I want it next week,” asked another.

One wondered: “Why is it already over and how on earth am I supposed to be able to wait for a whole year.”

Another said: “Apologies to most of Edinburgh, pretty sure you all heard my ‘How can they make us wait until NEXT YEAR?!?!”

Others shared hilarious video clips and images of people screaming or looking horrified at hearing there would be a lengthy wait for more of Strike’s adventures.

The Cuckoo’s Calling, the first instalment of the series, saw Strike looking into the death of supermodel Lula Landry after she falls to her death from a Mayfair balcony.

In the second story, Strike’s agency is busy after he cracked the Landry case but he agrees to take on the mystery of missing novelist Owen Quine.