Severance, season 2: Adam Scott, Patricia Arquette and Tramell Tillman on returning to Lumon

“I don’t think Mark, in the wildest reaches of his imagination, thought his company could do something as nefarious as faking a death,” says actor Adam Scott of his character in Apple TV’s Severance.

But Mark’s is an unusual workplace, to put it mildly.

Employees at biotech conglomerate Lumon Industries are offered the company’s pioneering severance programme, a concept inspired by series creator Dan Erickson’s desire to escape the mind-numbing drudgery of his office jobs, external.

Sold as the ultimate work-life balance, the firm’s brain microchip procedure splits a person’s consciousness and memory into dual existences.

This means when “severed” grieving widower Mark Scout and his colleagues take the office lift each morning, their work-self – or “innie” – awakens for duty. Once they clock off, their “outie” re-emerges, returning to home life blissfully unaware.

But series one’s cliffhanger finale – the work of executive producer and director Ben Stiller, external – saw Mark discover his late wife Gemma may actually still be alive amid a rebellion by his team against their shadowy employers.

The group managed to outsmart floor managers Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette) and Milchick (Tramell Tillman) and override the severance system, briefly awakening their real-world bodies. Rebellious sceptic Helly (Britt Lowery) also learned a shattering truth about her outie’s company ties.

Fans have been waiting almost three years to find out what happens next, and on Friday, Severance returned to Apple TV for its anticipated second season.