NCIS: Sydney Season 3: Release date, cast and characters, where to watch and more

The NCIS universe isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Following two successful seasons, NCIS: Sydney Season 3 is officially on the way — and it’s bringing the team back for another round of gripping investigations set against Australia’s stunning backdrop. Created by Morgan O’Neill, NCIS: Sydney made franchise history as the first international spinoff in the long-running CBS procedural lineup.

Production wrapped in mid-2025, and the network has already started teasing a bigger, bolder chapter ahead — one that digs deeper into the personal lives of the team while delivering the tense investigations fans have come to expect.

Release details for NCIS: Sydney Season 3 explored

NCIS: Sydney Season 3 premieres Tuesday, October 14, 2025, at 7 pm PT/10 pm ET on CBS, taking over a key primetime slot as part of the network’s new NCIS lineup. The move from Fridays to Tuesdays signals CBS’s growing confidence in the series, pairing it with NCIS and NCIS: Origins for an all-NCIS programming block. Episodes will also stream the same day on Paramount+, where both previous seasons are available for binge-watching.

Fans outside the U.S. can continue watching NCIS: Sydney through Paramount+ internationally, which remains the exclusive home for global streaming. 

Cast and Characters

The returning cast of NCIS: Sydney Season 3 once again features Olivia Swann as Special Agent Michelle Mackey, the no-nonsense NCIS team leader whose loyalty and intuition are tested in new and unexpected ways. Todd Lasance reprises his role as Sergeant Jim “JD” Dempsey, the Australian Federal Police officer whose easy charm and grounded approach perfectly balance Mackey’s intensity. Their partnership — built on mutual respect and unspoken tension — continues to drive the emotional core of the show.

Sean Sagar returns as DeShawn Jackson, a field agent still struggling to reconcile his past mistakes, while Tuuli Narkle’s Evie Cooper remains the sharp, quietly observant intelligence analyst who often sees what others miss. William McInnes brings depth to Roy “Rosie” Penrose, the gruff but good-hearted pathologist navigating loss and redemption, and Mavournee Hazel’s Bluebird “Blue” Gleeson finds herself at the center of a personal mystery that ties directly to this season’s main arc.

Season 3 also introduces several new faces, including Claude Jabbour, Fayssal Bazzi, and Simone Kessell, who join the ensemble as key figures in the team’s latest investigation. 

Plot details for NCIS: Sydney Season 3

Picking up shortly after the events of the Season 2 finale, NCIS: Sydney Season 3 opens with a tense maritime case that quickly evolves into an international crisis. When two U.S. Navy aviators go missing off the coast of Queensland, Mackey’s team is pulled into a high-stakes mission that spans from Sydney’s inner harbor to the far reaches of the Outback. As the investigation unfolds, the agents uncover a web of political cover-ups, private military contractors, and a mysterious connection to an unsolved cold case that has haunted Mackey for years.

Showrunner Morgan O’Neill teased to TVLine that Season 3 will “push the characters further than ever before,” hinting that personal histories will collide with professional duties in unexpected ways. Mackey’s leadership faces new pressure from internal conflicts within both agencies, while JD wrestles with secrets that threaten his future on the team. 

NCIS: Sydney Season 3 premieres October 14, 2025, on CBS and Paramount+, continuing the franchise’s expansion into uncharted waters — both literally and figuratively. For fans of NCIS and newcomers alike, this Australian twist on the global phenomenon remains one of the network’s most compelling dramas.