Mandy Moore and Edgar Ramirez on darker ‘Dr. Death’ surgeon in Season 2: ‘Chilling and frightening’

Mandy Moore and Edgar Ramirez star in Season 2 of “Dr. Death,” premiering Dec. 21 on Peacock.

The eight-episode series, based on former NBC producer Benita Alexander’s (Moore) popular Wondery podcast, tracks her soured romantic relationship with renowned thoracic surgeon Dr. Paolo Macchiarini (Ramirez), who developed a seemingly revolutionary trachea implant used around the world.

The charming, suave, smooth-talking Macchiarini was eventually unmasked by Alexander (and others, in Sweden) as a narcissistic, gaslighting, scientific fraud whose tracheal surgeries killed at least three people, all of whom suffered while he gallivanted around the world leading a double (or triple) life — and promising Alexander the moon and the stars including their being married by his “good friend” … wait for it … Pope Francis.

In 2023, he was sentenced by a Swedish court to two-and-a-half years in prison.

The series co-stars Luke Kirby, Gustaf Hammarsten and Ashley Madekwe.

Moore (“This Is Us”) and Ramirez (“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”) spoke to The Post about “Dr. Death” — and their roles in the searing drama of betrayal and evil.