BritBox Reveals First Look at Karen Pirie Season 2

BritBox and World Productions (Line of Duty, Malpractice) have revealed a first look at the return of the critically-acclaimed, award-winning Original cold-case drama Karen Pirie. Double BAFTA Scotland winner Lauren Lyle reprises her role as audience-favorite Detective Inspector Karen Pirie, with a riveting new case to solve.

After captivating audiences as one of the UK’s most-watched dramas, the 3 x 120’ series, based on celebrated author Val McDermid’s A Darker Domain and adapted by Emer Kenny (The Curse, Save Me Too), will return for a second season in October on BritBox in the U.S. and Canada.

The first look pictures offer a glimpse into the thrilling new series, hailed as “a refreshing take on the detective genre.” After her bittersweet success in series one, Karen has been promoted to Detective Inspector and seemingly given the authority she has long been fighting for.

Just as she’s getting into the swing of her powerful new role, she is assigned an infamous unsolved case that will put her under intense scrutiny, from her boss, from the media, and ultimately, from sinister forces that would rather the past stayed in the past.

The 1984 case of Catriona and Adam Grant has confounded investigators and intrigued the public like no other. Catriona, the charming young heiress to a vast oil fortune, and her two-year-old son Adam, were brutally kidnapped at gunpoint outside a fish and chip shop in Fife.

The ransom notes that followed stirred up an uncontrollable press storm, but when the culprits fell silent, the police faltered, and Catriona and Adam were never seen again. Now, a man’s body has been discovered, with indisputable links to the original kidnapping.

With the first piece of evidence in decades, Karen must assemble an unbeatable team alongside her sincere and lovable sidekick, DC Jason ‘Mint’ Murray (Chris Jenks), and the brilliant–but–romantically–complicated DS Phil Parhatka (Zach Wyatt). With the international renown of the kidnapping and the constant pressure from Catriona’s father, Sir Broderick Grant (James Cosmo), the team takes on the biggest challenge of their careers to date.

As Karen delves deeper into what happened in the autumn of 1984, political grudges and painful secrets reveal themselves, and it soon becomes clear… the past is far from dead.

Lauren Lyle (Outlander, The Outrun) appears alongside season one regulars Chris Jenks (Sex Education, Vigil), Zach Wyatt (Timestalker, The Witcher: Blood Origin), Steve John Shepherd (Harry Potter), Emer Kenny (The Curse), and Rakhee Thakrar (Wonka).

Joining the returning cast are Saskia Ashdown (Six Four), James Cosmo (Braveheart), Frances Tomelty (Unforgotten), and John Michie (Holby City).

Bringing the 1980s to life are previously announced cast members Julia Brown (World on Fire), Mark Rowley (One Day), Kat Ronney (Dinosaur), Conor Berry (Schemers), Stuart Campbell (The Winter King), Jamie Michie (Back to Life), Madeleine Worrall (The Legend of Tarzan), Jack Stewart (Outlander), Thoren Ferguson (Rebus), and Helen Katamba (The Nest).

New additions to the present-day storyline include James Fleet (Bridgerton), Tom Mannion (Mr Selfridge), and Tommaso Basili (Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints).

Praised for its compelling twists and humor, the star-making turn saw the series win both Best Actress Television and the Audience Award for Favourite Scot on Screen at BAFTA Scotland for Lauren Lyle, Best Drama at the Celtic Media Festival, and a Best Mini-Series nomination at the British Press Guild Awards.

The series earned critical acclaim as “modern and fresh” (The Times) and “a truly exceptional example of the TV crime genre” (Heat).

Emer Kenny writes Karen Pirie, which is executive produced by Simon Heath and Emma Luffingham at World Productions, Emer Kenny, and Val McDermid. The series is directed by Gareth Bryn, with Amanda Blue directing episode three, and produced by Marcus Wilson.

It is produced in association with ITV Studios (A Taste for Murder), which handles global distribution. Filming took place in Scotland and Malta.