Drama News

FILMING UNDER WAY FOR SIXTH SERIES OF ITV / STV HIT CRIME DRAMA THE BAY IN MORECAMBE | INFORMING BRITAIN ON DRAMA

21/5/2026

Filming has begun on the sixth series of the popular ITV/STV drama The Bay, with production company Tall Story Pictures confirming the start of principal photography in Morecambe.

Marsha Thomason returns in the lead role as DS Jenn Townsend, the Family Liaison Officer with the town's Major Investigation Unit, joined once again by series regulars including Daniel Ryan as DI Tony Manning.

The new run introduces guest actors Claire Calbraith and Alec Newman as the foster parents of the series story's victim, while familiar faces Suzanne Packer, Tara Lynne O'Neill and Jacob Butler reprise supporting roles.

The storyline centres on the murder of a teenage foster child, Logan Marsden, whose body is discovered in a fairground on the promenade.

Investigators uncover tensions within the local community as suspicion moves from those closest to the teenager towards individuals connected to a wider criminal network operating in the area.

Alongside the professional demands of the case, Townsend and Manning navigate personal pressures that challenge their focus and working relationship.

The series is commissioned by ITV's Director of Drama Polly Hill and will air on ITV1 and STV before becoming available to stream on ITVX and STV Player.

Co-created and written by Daragh Carville, with additional scripts from a team including Bridget Deane, the drama continues its strong performance record.

The fifth series drew an average audience of six million viewers per episode on linear television and recorded an eight per cent rise in streaming hours on ITVX.

International sales have seen the programme distributed to more than 140 countries.

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EMER KENNY SHOW BOSS EXPLAINS ALL ABOUT THE NEW KAREN PIRIE SERIES IN IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW

21/9/2022

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Karen Pirie begins Sunday 25 September 2022 on ITV & STV with all episodes soon to stream on ITV Hub & STV Player.

Emer Kenny, who adapted the series, had a chat with press representatives speaking all-things Pirie and why she wouldn't have been suitable for the role, herself.

You might find one of her inspirations for Karen Pirie a bit surprising.

Here's what Emer had to say.

How did you start working on the screen adaptation of Val McDermid’s books?

I was working with World Productions, writing an episode of Save Me Too, and they asked me if I'd be interested in reading the Karen Pirie books, because they had the rights to them. The first book was written back in 2004 and the TV idea had been around the block a bit with different writers, channels and production companies – nobody had ever quite worked out what the right approach to adapting the series would be. It's because the first book has quite a few challenges, in that Karen is the lead character of the series, but she doesn't come in until something like page 400! Plus, it's written in two blocks, so it’s set in both the 1970s and then in 2004. So, to make it a series, how do you thread Karen through the whole show? You have to overlap the timelines, and it wasn't immediately obvious how to do that, I really had to think about it.

But what essentially drew me to the project was this character, Karen. She's a young woman in a male-dominated environment, who is really underestimated, and I think I related to that. I've felt like that at times in my own job, so I wanted to channel my personal experiences and frustrations into Karen. She has a daunting prospect ahead of her, in that this is the first time she has an opportunity to work on a big crime that nobody thinks is possible to solve, and I feel like I also had quite a daunting prospect ahead of me, trying to crack these books and bring them to the screen for the first time! I had never written a whole series before, so I really related to her in that way, and we're about the same age too. If you can relate to the material, then you'll bring something of yourself to it and your authentic approach should mean the audience will relate to it too. The show became quite personal for me in the end.

How did you cope with the challenges of adapting this novel?

It was really tricky technically. I had to make quite a few changes to the story, because when you write a book you can be inside the character's head, whereas when you're writing a TV series you have to externalise everything. People who are fans of the books might be surprised by some of the alterations, and I think one of the biggest changes for me was that the Karen of the books was in her late 20s in 2004 and my Karen is in her late 20s in 2021, so they're almost a half generation apart.

That's had a big effect on the character because I wanted her to feel as modern and relevant as possible. TV Karen is an updated version, but at her core she is the same. Val describes Karen as having a mind full of motors, she's totally vanity-free, she's defiant in the face of authority and she's really determined to do her job well. She gets emotionally involved in her cases, she emotes openly, she cares. All of those qualities are still there.

Then there were a couple of other things that I had to change – the book is set in the '70s and I have updated that to the '90s so that the gap between the cold case and the present day is the same. Also, there's a big gender swap I made to one of the characters, but when you watch it, I think you'll understand why. It makes the story feel fresher.

How much did you talk to Val McDermid about the changes you wanted to make?

Val was brilliant.

She'd been through the TV process before with Wire in the Blood, and she was quite involved with Karen Pirie – she read lots of drafts, gave me feedback, came to set and watched early cuts, but she was also really respectful, knowing that the TV process is different to authoring books.

She said to me once:

"I write books and I don't want to write scripts, I'll leave that to you"

And similarly I can't write novels, so we had a mutual appreciation for each other's skills and processes. That gave me a lot of freedom. I always explained to her why I needed to change things, we had good communication about that and she's really happy with the show.

How much research did you do into police procedure?

I actually had to change so much from the book, because moving the cold case from the 1970s to the 1990s means that a lot of police procedure has changed in that time. DNA testing came in during that period, instead of just fingerprints and blood types.

We had amazing police advisors, who have worked on shows like Line on Duty and Bodyguard, so they were always on hand.

I would just write what I thought the characters might say and then I'd get a set of notes, and I'd go back in with their suggestions to make it feel more real.

Did you watch other female-led crime dramas in preparation?

Just before we shot the series, we had all watched Mare of Easttown, and they did humour so well, they had characters who brought a real lightness and wit to the show, which makes the highs higher and the lows lower. I feel like life is very funny, even in its dark and tragic moments, and everything feels more authentic if you have humour. I don't think anyone ever has completely serious conversations without any kind of snark, sarcasm or wit thrown in, and a lot more crime shows are doing that now.

I looked at Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect, because she was an iconic ITV detective in 1991, and that series was about a woman in a really male dominated police environment. It's brilliant, but when I watched it, it was depressing because it still feels like you could make this show right now with the same themes. Something I added was that Karen is put on the case because she's a woman and it brings up the concept of positive discrimination, because the police think it would be a good PR move to have a woman investigating this case while there's a true crime podcast accusing them of sexism and victim blaming.

Another big influence was the character of Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality! She was a real touchstone for both me and Lauren. Her toughness, her humour, her rebelliousness against traditional femininity.

You’re an actress, did you ever consider casting yourself as Karen?

No, it would have never been me, because we knew right from the beginning that it had to be a Scottish actress.

I do think that actors can and should play outside of who they are when they're at home, and lots of actors do brilliant accents, but there are so many great actors in Scotland, and Karen and Val are both quite iconic Scottish figures – it just wouldn’t have felt right for an outsider to play her.

In casting Karen, one of the big freedoms we had was the character's youth – it meant we knew that we could cast someone who was really right for the role, rather than a big established name. Lauren has this great ability to do all of the emotional beats, but also really carry the humour. We both find the exact same things funny and when I heard her saying those lines for the first time, I knew we understood each other.

Karen is really unglamorous and she's supposed to look like a very normal woman, like anyone you'd pass in the street. Lauren is like a chameleon, in that she can put a sparkly dress on and look absolutely amazing on the red carpet, but she's also completely capable of stripping it all right back in utilitarian clothes, totally changing the way she walks and so on – she really brought the energy we needed for Karen.

How important is it that Karen isn't a sexy, fashionable detective?

That's so central to the character in the book, and I talked a lot about wanting her to be the opposite of Gillian Anderson in Then Fall (although I loved that performance) – she couldn't be wearing a silk shirt or a pencil skirt, and her hair cannot be glossy. She's never intentionally sexy, she's doing her job and we talked about her loving it when she was lower down the ranks of the police wearing a uniform, so she has created her own plain clothes uniform from things she's bought in outdoor shops and wears a bumbag. She feels quite real and she's not exactly unfashionable, but she is very practical. I think that all makes her feel much fresher and more relevant for 2022 – more like a 29-year old I would know, and more like someone you'd actually find serving in the police, rather than a sexy bombshell detective that we've already seen.

Karen is a loaded name now – how do you feel about that?

The Karen thing happened as I was writing and I thought:

"Oh no… she's a white policewoman called Karen... what am I going to do?!"

So, I had to refer to it - and there's a little line where she says it's not been the greatest time to be called Karen. It's something that I worried about, and that Lauren and I talked about a lot, but I couldn't change it – I've already updated her quite a lot, but I can’t go that far!

You play Karen's friend River – what is she like as a character?

River is Karen's best friend in the book, she's a forensic archaeologist and she's a bouncing board for all of Karen's theories and ideas about the case, despite not actually being involved. I made them flatmates too, because I wanted to put a female friendship at the heart of the show, otherwise it could become police procedure speak all the time. I really wanted to get some element of humour in there, where they can talk about sex and relationships, even if it’s just tiny snippets between scenes.

What was it like delivering lines you had written?

I think it was weirder for other people than for me, because I feel more at home as an actress than I do as an exec. I was up in Scotland for the whole shoot, and it was my first time as an executive producer, watching monitors and learning as I went.

The day that I got to put River's pyjamas on and be an actress was really relaxing, it felt very easy to me. I've played characters I've written before, and I find that quite easy, but the hard part is cutting lines in the edit – that is always going to be a little bit more painful than cutting someone else's scene! I actually had my eye on playing Bel, the podcaster, but Lauren and I got on really well. It instantly felt like we'd been friends forever, so it made sense to play River, and I'm really glad we cast Rakhee Thakrar as Bel – she nails it.

Do you enjoy acting and writing equally?

I've always done them alongside each other. I started acting when I was 16 and writing when I was 19, and I don't think I could ever do just one. I definitely couldn't just write, I find it really hard – the Karen Pirie scripts were 100 pages long each and I wrote about 12 drafts of all of them, so it's thousands of pages in the end, which is just relentless, spending a lot of time on your own.

My favourite part of the entire storytelling process is the bit where you're on set, and I got to do that with two hats this time as an exec and an actor. But as an actor you lack control as well, which has its own downsides. I'll always try to combine the two in my work.

How do you reflect on this experience, your first time as a showrunner writing a full series?

I'm so proud of it, it was a real mountain to climb but I'm so happy with what we've made. The book is 600 pages long, and there were times when I was looking at it, not knowing how I would ever untangle some of the stories, thinking getting to the end would be impossible. But we did.

It felt really personal for both me and Lauren, we'd often grab each other and say:

"This will never happen again!"

...because it was her first time as the lead with her character's name in the title and my first time writing a series.

We were really grateful to be experiencing it together, because it felt extremely important, thrilling and scary at the same time, it's something neither of us will ever forget. There are more books to adapt – hopefully they'll feel as magical but not as daunting!

Why do you think cold cases hold such a fascination for audiences?

It's something I've thought about a lot, that women in particular are really obsessed by cold cases and true crime podcasts – that's why I added the podcaster, because I was really fascinated by how we're all so addicted to listening to stories of horrible murders of young women. I wanted to explore that.

I think we’re all really fascinated by what we're afraid of, and I think, unfortunately, women are afraid of being murdered. There's something comforting if you listen to a clever podcaster solve the case, you feel it's less likely that it's going to happen to you because you have more knowledge.

Did you feel any reticence about working on scenes involving violence towards women?

Definitely.

There's been a lot of criticism of crime shows over the years and the way they deal with female victims, and a lot of people just don't want to watch women being raped and killed on TV anymore. I completely understand that, but as I was writing the series, Sarah Everard went missing and then throughout the year, several other tragic cases followed.

I felt this bubbling anger in my chest at all times when I was writing, because the subject matter in the book covered a really similar area – Rosie, the victim in the book, is just trying to get home and she doesn't make it. I felt angry and I could see how angry others felt too, so it was important that I approached this story properly and that I gave Rosie a voice.

I tried to minimise the gore of what happens to her, because I don’t think it’s about that, you don't want to be exploitative or sensationalist. I also really minimised what you see of what happens to Rosie. I tried to put the victim's experience in the mouths of the actresses and it felt like that was a better way of approaching this kind of story. I was really concerned to get it right.

How do you feel about the series finally airing on ITV/STV?

I can't wait!

I feel like I've been working on it for a really long time, it's been about four years, a lot of which was spent in a room by myself, so I just really want to see what everyone thinks of the show. It's quite unusual, so I hope people will watch it and I fall in love with Karen.

I think I've watched the first episode more than 40 times now, and I know it word for word, but I'll still watch it as it goes out!

Karen Pirie continues on ITV/STV with all episodes streaming at ITV Hub/STV Player.

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KAREN PIRIE'S LAUREN LYLE SPEAKS ABOUT CURRENT THREE PART DRAMA

21/9/2022

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Karen Pirie hits its penulimate episode as the investigation takes more twists and turns.

Last week, Informing Britain shared an interview with show writer Emer Kenny, this week it's the turn of Karen Pirie's leading lady, Lauren Lyle, as she talks all-things Pirie.

Here's the discussion in full.

How did the role of Karen come your way?

Our executive producer, Simon Heath, spotted me at the read through for Vigil – he was thinking about casting for Karen Pirie at the time and tells me I stood out.

I auditioned at the end of 2020 and it felt like a really natural fit – the script for the first episode was really unlike anything else you would get sent as a mid-twenties, female Scottish actor, this kind of role doesn't come along often. Usually, you don't get the chance to play a detective until you're a bit older, but I felt really akin to her. I was so excited to get the recall, and I was given interrogation scenes to prepare. They were unlike anything I'd done before, so I had all my friends on the phone, swearing them to secrecy but asking them run these scenes with me, so that I'd done it a hundred different ways! I wasn’t sure if the audition would go my way, but then I got a call at 8pm one Friday night, while I was filming Outlander in lockdown, during a Scottish winter. It was all really dark and sad and then I got this call with the offer, and I just completely flipped out! I was jumping around my apartment, but I couldn’t really celebrate with anyone because we were all locked in our houses! So, I had a drink with one of my Outlander co-stars outside his house instead.

How did your family react when you got the role?

My mum and dad had read the books and they were beside themselves when I told them I'd been offered the role of Karen.

My dad kept saying:

"But Lauren, Val McDermid is the Queen of crime, do you know that?!"

My mum told me my dad didn't sleep that night. It was all really exciting but such a big whirlwind. I didn't quite know what I was letting myself in for, and then when I got to the shoot it was just three months of complete joy and exhaustion the whole time. It was the best job I've ever done, it was fab.

Karen is quite different for a TV detective isn't she – she's not a sexy, glossy cop? Yes, we discussed that a lot, because her image is described in detail in the books, and I don’t quite look like that version of the character. She’s supposed to have mousy hair for example, but when I got cast I had a blonde bob, which was my lockdown cut – I used to have very long hair for a long time, and I cut it all off during the pandemic to everyone’s horror! I actually loved it, and the director saw it and thought it really stood out – this unconventional, not overly pretty look.

In the books Karen is meant to be unfashionable and odd, and she doesn't really care about what she looks like, because her job is really all she's worried about. But I talked to the brilliant costume designer Lesley Abernethy and we decided that she should secretly be a little bit accidentally cool. Val really wanted her to have a bag of some kind, just to carry her detective tools, and I suggested a bumbag, which became really cool, and then the sweater vest came along too. I had quite a strong image of what I wanted her to look like – this modern woman appearing to be a bit androgynous and trying to level up the men.

I think she's got the image in her head of what she should look like to fit in around a lot of men, but by doing that she completely isolates herself into being quite an independent looking person, who looks cool without meaning to. And she doesn't wear any make-up, I insisted on that, not even mascara, because she just wouldn't bother.

That's really refreshing as well, it's really nice to do something as a woman where you don't feel you have to look pretty. When we meet her, Karen has been unexpectedly promoted, and fears she is benefitting from positive discrimination.

How does she feel about the new job?

She definitely feels imposter syndrome. She was expecting Phil to get the job because he's been working among the guys a lot longer, he has moved up quicker and she perceives him to be really brilliant, which he is. The way it’s happened is that it looks good for the police to put a woman on this particular case and that's why she gets it. Actually, she probably doesn't quite understand that at first, and when she suddenly realises, it fills her with insecurity. But at the same time, deep down, she's got this real determination and she knows she can do it. She goes against all traditional policing, and I think that annoys the guys she works with, that she is inherently really good at her job without having to try that hard. She's just naturally a really good policewoman and all the guys are having to work a bit harder to keep up. She also takes really untraditional, cheeky routes to do what she needs to do and isn't afraid of that. She’s just trying to do what’s right, and if that means not completely following the rules then so be it, she'll deal with the consequences later.

Is she happy?

I don't think she’s unhappy. I think she's quite comfortable where she is, she's good at her job and she loves being a detective. I think she’s having fun with Phil, who she has an on-off relationship with.

She's young, she’s in her mid-twenties and still figuring herself out, and I don't think she expects to have so much responsibility thrust upon her just yet.

She's just getting her life going, and she's enjoying her job, but I don’t think she’s thinking that far ahead. But this case kicks her into gear and she's determined and ambitious, so that begins to drive her. As soon she starts to feel underestimated, that just puts more fire in her belly.

What kind of research did you do to play Karen?

It was really interesting when we were filming, we started at St Andrews Cathedral and one night we had police escorts with us.

One of them was a twenty-something blonde woman, and it turns out she was a detective from Methil, the same tiny town Karen is from! To me, she was the real Karen Pirie. So we exchanged numbers and we stayed in touch, it was like looking into a mirror for Karen.

Val gave me some pointers about Karen's background and I watched every detective show that I could, especially series with female leads. Mare of Easttown was actually a really big reference, watching Kate Winslet. It's an amazing parallel because there's a real levity and humour to Karen Pirie that I don’t think always exists, but it's there in things like Sherlock and Mare of Easttown, I think that was the balance that we wanted to strike – of course we had to make sure we had the gravitas and intensity for this really dark story, and the way violence against women is looked at. I had to look into a lot of that and how to tell this story properly. But there's also the realistic nature of how you approach life and some of Mare of Easttown could be really funny at times, because often you cope through humour.

So I watched everything I could find, and I read the scripts hundreds of times. Much like a detective, I got some huge pieces of paper that I taped together and put on my wall, with details of the whole case. It’s so complicated that I had to make sure I understood it, so I kept referencing back to this map on my wall. There are so many suspects and I had to walk into each scene remembering if Karen really did suspect them or if she secretly trusted them.

Did you enjoy filming in St. Andrews?

Yes, it was lockdown while we were there, so it was really empty – we were the only ones there apart from a couple of golf tours, which was fab. We were really lucky because Emer wrote a 5 star hotel into the script, so we all had to stay there! Me and Emer would have breakfast and dinner together every day, just discussing the character and the whole show, exchanging ideas, it was a real joy.

We were actually in Glasgow quite a lot and then moving around different areas. We had a really good time together, we all got really close. Zach (Wyatt), who plays Phil is American/Canadian and wanted to get to know Scotland, so we took him on big trips and climbed Ben A'an to show it off. It was a really young, cool, newcomer cast, so everyone was dead excited and felt so privileged to be able to do the show, and we stayed in our little bubble.

It's beautiful having the series set in Scotland, some of the landscapes we have are phenomenal, up in Loch Lomond and in the mountains. A friend of mine has watched some of the series and kept asking if we'd used CGI.

I kept saying:

"No, that’s just Scotland!"

Will the TV version of Karen be recognisable to fans of the books?

Absolutely, the dry wit and her attitude of not giving a damn are exactly the same as in the books. It was really cool to know that Val McDermid was happy with me being cast in the role, and I had a lot of conversations with her and Emer to make sure I was on the right track.

Is it true that your family makes an appearance in the series?

Yes, I got my mum, dad and brother on as extras for the final scene of the whole series – they all came in and it was so cool to see them do my job! They've never been able to come to a set before, so I felt very proud having them see it, they were all in awe of how big a scale it is, that was special. My mum did jump up at the back of one shot and the whole thing had to stop, but otherwise they were brilliant!

How much of a dream is it to play a detective?

It's such a pinnacle as an actor, to have that kind of opportunity. There aren't many female detectives on TV, and the ones that do exist are all much older. I didn't realise until I started doing all my research that you could be this young in that job, I neverthought I'd get the chance to do it yet. Picking up my police badge for the first time, me and Chris Jenks who plays Mint were handed them and didn't quite know what to do with them. So we took ourselves away on set when everyone was on their break, and practiced our badge flipping at each other, just trying to look cool while doing it! I was delighted.

Are you excited to reach a new audience through this series?

Yes, Outlander began as quite a cult American series, which then grew around the world and it's got much bigger in the UK now, but this feels like much more pressure, being in an iconic primetime British detective show. We're so known for these kinds of shows, and it feels like a real privilege to step into one, I've got to live up to that somehow.

I hope the audience enjoys it because it is quite a different take on a detective show, with a younger, underestimated woman who didn't quite expect to have a case like this thrust upon her. I watched loads of female detective shows for my research and many of them tend to be about damaged women who are going through something and their job is their life. Karen is a bit more hopeful than that.

Emer and I decided we didn't want her to be a sad detective, there's a lot more spark about her. She's so determined and she's right at the start of her career, as well as having to fight the battle of a conservative traditional male police force. It's a really different show to take on, which is super exciting for me as an actor to get to put myself in front of a whole new audience.

Can you see yourself revisiting Karen?

If it were up to me, I'd have signed off series two straight away, we didn't want to leave the set! So yes, I think there's a lot more to be done, the books are phenomenal. The next one is partially set in Tuscany, so why would we not want to do that?!

But yes, she's my favourite character I've ever played and the one I've felt most trusted with, I've had a lot of creative control, which is just so cool. I definitely feel we could go again if we are permitted.

Do you think cold case dramas hold an extra layer of intrigue?

Yes, it's exciting that within this story a lot of things happen within the 25-year gap – there's the night of the crime and the case itself, but also everything that has gone on in the years that followed. It just makes for a much more delicious, satisfying story, because there's so much to unpack, and it means you've got to keep up. It's not a boring whodunit and people won’t expect the way it ends, which is the best part.

My mum and dad have read the books and they said they had no idea about the big twist. And we all love a big twist.

Karen Pirie may have began Sunday 25 September 2022, at 20:00, on ITV & STV but all all episodes available now, on STV Player in Scotland and ITV Hub everywhere else.

If you choose to wait, the series finale hits your screens Sunday 09 October 2022, on STV in Scotland and ITV everywhere else, at 20:00.

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EMER KENNY ADAPTS ACCLAIMED VAL MCDERMID'S KAREN PIRIE INTO THREE PART ITV/STV DRAMA

21/9/2022

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Lauren Lyle stars as Karen Pirie in ITV/STV cold case murder drama, based on acclaimed author Val McDermid's The Distant Echo and adapted by Emer Kenny.

Outlander star Lauren Lyle takes the lead role of Karen Pirie in a new ITV/STV Drama series from the producers of Line Of Duty and Bodyguard - World Productions.

True to Val McDermid's iconic character, DS Karen Pirie is a young and fearless Scottish investigator with a quick mouth and tenacious desire for the truth.

Adapted by Emer Kenny who will also take the role of Karen's friend River Wilde, Karen Pirie also stars Chris Jenks as Jason "The Mint" Murray and Zach Wyatt as DS Phil Parhatka.

The series is based on Val McDermid’s first Karen Pirie novel The Distant Echo, and in the first episode Karen is tasked with reopening an historic murder investigation that has been the subject of a provocative true crime podcast.

When teenager Rosie Duff (Anna Russell-Martin) was found brutally murdered in the Scottish university town of St. Andrews in 1996, suspicion fell on the three drunken students who were discovered at the scene of the crime, claiming to have found her body; Sigmund "Ziggy" Malkiewicz (Jhon Lumsden), Tom "Weird" Mackie (Jack Hesketh) and Alex Gilbey (Buom Tihngang). But with a lack of forensic evidence, no charges were brought and the police investigation floundered.

Twenty-five years on, someone appears to be willing to risk everything to keep the secrets surrounding the case hidden. Do the three men know more than they previously revealed? How flawed was the original investigation? And can Karen uncover the truth of what happened to Rosie that fateful night?

Karen Pirie, the series, will comprise of three, 2 hour, episodes and they will begin on Sunday 25 September 2022, at 21:00, on ITV & STV.

It was commissioned by Polly Hill, ITV's Head Of Drama.

Huw Kennair-Jones, Drama Commissioner, oversaw production from ITV/STV's perspective.

Simon Heath, Emer Kenny & Val McDermid serve as Executive Producers.

Clare Kerr produced the series and Gareth Byrn directed the drama.

The series was filmed across Scotland.

Karen Pirie is in association with, and distributed by, ITV Studios.

Karen Pirie's stellar cast are confirmed as the following.

Lauren Lyle as DS Karen Pirie
Emer Kenny as River Wilde
Zach Wyatt as DS Phil Parhatka
Kevin Mains as DS Jimmy Lawson
Gemma McElhinney as Janice Hogg
Anna Russell-Martin as Rosie Duff
Stuart Bowman as CS Lawson SNR.
Barrie Hunter as Professor Keen
Daniel Portman as Colin Duff
Rakhee Thakrar as Bel Richmond
Jack Hesketh as Tom "Weird" Mackie
Steve John Shepherd as Simon Lees
Bhav Joshi as Rob Driscoll
Chris Jenks as Jason Murray
Marnie Baxter as Lynn Mackie
Bobby Rainsbury as Grace Galloway
Buom Tihngang as Alex Gilbey
Jhon Lumsden as Ziggy Malkiewicz
Imogen Mackie Walker as Dorothy JNR.
Gerry Lynch as Colin Duff SNR.
Layla Kirk as Iona Kaleel JNR.
Clare Waugh as Dorothy SNR.
Kim Allan as Sarah
Gary Lamont as Paul
Alec Newman as Ziggy SNR.
Christopher McPhilips as CID Officer
James Uphill as Student

The production credits have been confirmed by ITV and are listed as the following.

Writer: Emer Kenny
Director: Gareth Bryn
Costume Designer: Lesley Abernethy
Make Up/Hair Designer: Laura Hill
Casting Director: Dan Jackson CDG
Production Designer: Mark Leese
Production Sound Mixer: Graham McCormick
Director Of Photography: Ryan Kernaghan
Composer: Stephanie Taylor
Editor: Tim Hodges
Editor: Ben McKinstrie
Line Producer: Derek Donohoe
Serie Producer: Clare Kerr
Executive Producer: Simon Heath
Executive Producer Emer Kenny
Executive Producer: Val McDermid

Karen Pirie begins Sunday 25 September 2022, on ITV & STV, at 20:00.

Also streaming on ITV Hub and STV Player.

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ITV COMMISSIONS NOLLY STARRING ACADEMY AWARD-NOMINATED HELENA BONHAM CARTER AS NOELE GORDON

23/11/2021

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Forty years after Noele Gordon's shock sacking from Crossroads, ITV have commissioned Nolly.

Nolly will be a 3-part series comprising of 60 minute episodes.

The new ITV/STV drama starring Academy Award-nominated and BAFTA-winning actor Helena Bonham Carter as Noele Gordon and written by BAFTA-winning writer Russell T. Davies.

The series will be produced by Quay Street Productions, the first drama under Nicola Shindler's new production banner with ITV Studios.

Noele - or Nolly to her friends - was a legend in her own lifetime. As flame-haired widow Meg Richardson in the long-running soap opera Crossroads, she was one of the most famous people in Great Britain. Then in 1981, at the height of the show's success and the peak of Nolly's fame, she was axed without ceremony, without warning and with no explanation. With the words of the boss - "all good things must come to an end" - ringing in her ears, Noele Gordon found herself thrown out of the show that was her life for over 18 years.

Nolly has been commissioned for ITV by Head Of Drama, Polly Hill.

Polly Hill, commented:

"Russell’s scripts are magnificent and a great tribute to Noele Gordon, but also to our national love of soaps and a celebration of the incredible women they create. Helena Bonham Carter is going to be amazing as Nolly and we can't wait for her to step into those shoes."

Nolly brings the true Noele Gordon once more into the spotlight. The Queen of the Midlands, a star who could be tough, haughty and imperious, grandly sweeping into rehearsals from her Rolls Royce, but also a hard-working actress who was fiercely loyal and loved by cast and crew alike. And at last, the biggest question of all can be answered – why was she sacked? Nolly reveals the truth, the consequences, and the legacy of that terrible day.

Nolly is a bold exploration of how the establishment turns on women who refuse to play by the rules, the women it cannot understand and the women it fears. And it is a love letter to a legend of television, and to the madcap soap she starred in, Nolly is an outrageously fun and wildly entertaining ride through Noele Gordon's most tumultuous years, and a sharp, affectionate and heart-breaking portrait of a forgotten icon.

Helena Bonham Carter, said:

"Noele Gordon was a fascinating, complex, brilliant and gutsy woman - none of which I knew before I read Russell T. Davies' script. I'm so thrilled to help tell Nolly's long overdue and largely forgotten story. Russell's screenplay is a work of brilliance and I hope I'll do him and Nolly justice. I can't wait to start."

Russell T. Davies, explains:

"One of my very first jobs in TV was a trial script for Crossroads, and I've wanted to write the story of behind the scenes on that show for 40 years. At last, the truth can be told!"

Nicola Shindler, tells:

"I couldn't be prouder or more excited that the first drama we will be filming for Quay Street Productions is this beautiful script by Russell T. Davies. And that Helena Bonham Carter will star as such an iconic British woman is dream casting."

Nolly will go into production in 2022 and is Executive Produced by Nicola Shindler who worked on award-winning dramas such as Queer As Folk & It's A Sin with Russell T. Davies, who also acts as Executive Producer for Nolly.

Russell T. Davies brings over It's A Sin's Peter Hoar to direct the series.

The Series Producer has been announced as Karen Lewis who has an impressive resume of her own from working on major British Dramas such as Last Tango In Halifax & Happy Valley.

The series produced in association with, and distributed by, ITV Studios.

Quay Street Productions is an independent production company founded by multi-award-winning producer Nicola Shindler OBE in 2021, to make contemporary, provocative, entertaining, and engaging drama for the United Kingdom, and global audiences.

The new production company builds on Shindler’s reputation to deliver compelling drama, with her previous credits including It's A Sin, Finding Alice, The Stranger, Happy Valley, Years and Years, Last Tango In Halifax, and Queer As Folk.

Based in Manchester, Quay Street Productions puts the writers and talent at the centre of the production process. Welcoming voices from all different backgrounds, Quay Street Productions promotes a diversity of storytelling working with new and established writers. Quay Street Productions is a subsidiary of ITV Studios.

Crossroads, previously known as Crossroads Motel and Crossroads King's Oak, began broadcast on Monday 2 November 1964 until Friday 30 May 2003 where it concluded on the ITV Network.
*
Crossroads had many popular actors feature in its near 40 year run. Actors such as John Bowler, Rhea Bailey, Gary Webster, Georgina Bouzova, Jonathan Guy Lewis, Linda Robson, Les Dennis, Jonathan Wrather, Freema Agyeman, Lionel Blair, Natasha Symms, Lucy Pargeter, Jessica Fox, Ramon Tikaram, Anne Charleston, Donnaleigh Bailey & Sherrie Hewson.

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WATERLOO ROAD SET TO RETURN AS FORMER CAST SPEAK OF THE REBOOT | WATERLOO ROAD EXCLUSIVE

23/9/2021

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Waterloo Road, the award-winning contemporary drama series set in a comprehensive school, is returning to BBC One.

The new series of Waterloo Road will be set and made in the Greater Manchester area and produced by award-winning Wall To Wall Media and Rope Ladder Fiction, the new Manchester-based production company from Cameron Roach, who executive produced the previous series of Waterloo Road in both Rochdale, Greater Manchester and Greenock, Inverclyde.

Originally airing on the BBC from 2006 to 2015, Waterloo Road was one of the United Kingdom's most popular and longest-running British TV dramas, with an impressive alumni of dynamic characters and award-winning storylines. Such is the show's enduring popularity, it has drawn both loyal and new, young and diverse audiences since it dropped as a boxset on BBC iPlayer in September 2019, consistently among the top five most-watched shows for young audiences on BBC iPlayer.

The spotlight on education in Great Britain is more intense now than ever before, with awareness of the challenges that teachers, parents and pupils face even more pronounced amidst the ongoing pandemic. Waterloo Road will use its rich history of telling entertaining and gripping human stories while tackling the important issues of the day.

The revival of Waterloo Road will boost drama production skills in the North of England and help to reshape the BBC's drama slate to better reflect, represent and serve all parts of the country.

The series will provide a training ground for new and diverse writers, which is of significant importance to both the BBC and Cameron Roach. Roach is renowned for his passion for long-running drama series and the power they have to develop and encourage emerging talent.

Piers Wenger, Director of BBC Drama, says:

"Waterloo Road is the perfect lens through which to explore post-COVID Britain, from the perspective of those who have arguably been affected most: young people in education. We are thrilled to be returning to this brilliant format - its thrills and spills, unmissable characters and high drama - at a time when audiences across Britain need it most - and to be collaborating with the brilliant Cameron Roach and Wall To Wall on its return."

Cameron Roach, Executive Producer, explains:

"I’m really thrilled to be working with the BBC and Wall To Wall, in re-igniting the iconic brand of Waterloo Road. The vital and urgent stories that are playing out in schools across the UK provide incredible and emotionally powerful themes, that we’re excited to bring to a new generation of fans. Waterloo Road will continue its reputation for kickstarting, supporting and enabling careers both in front of and behind the camera, in a truly inclusive way, from our base in Greater Manchester."

Waterloo Road was commissioned by Piers Wenger, Director of BBC Drama.

Cameron Roach will return to executive produce for Wall to Wall/Rope Ladder Fiction and Executive Producers for the BBC have been revealed as Gaynor Holmes and Jo McClellan.

Further information about the series including casting will be revealed in due course.

The exciting return announcement was made by the official Waterloo Road Twitter account earlier today.

Psst. We've heard a rumour going around school □

For more info, head over to □ http://t.co/lmJldnUnBL #WaterlooRoad pic.twitter.com/qJkiFDOJI7
— Waterloo Road (@WaterlooRoad) September 23, 2021

Since then, fans of the popular School drama took to Social Media to express their delight.

At first, Amy couldn't believe what she was reading.

#WaterlooRoad is returning?!?!?!?!?!
— Amy (@amyyyy_amy) September 23, 2021

Webbers is up for it.

#WaterlooRoad Is back! Come on!
— Webbers246 (@Webbers246) September 23, 2021

Lucy's day was made.

#WaterlooRoad coming back has literally made my day.. honestly loved that programme so much □
— Lucy (@LucyB1110) September 23, 2021

Emily might be still buzzing, I'm not sure.

I am BUZZING that #WaterlooRoad is back
— Emily Rose Chriscoli (@EmilyRChriscoli) September 23, 2021

Cara's 2021 has been made even better.

This has made 2021 even better ☺️ #WaterlooRoad https://t.co/DxQQsDHjUZ
— Cara□□ (@Cara_lennon94) September 23, 2021

Fans of Emmerdale actor Rosie Bentham were "gutted" it was axed and hopes to see their favourite Head Teacher make an appearance.

Was gutted when Waterloo road ended but so excited now that’s it’s returning back to our screens! Hopefully we might get Rachel mason back as the headteacher again? □#waterlooroad #rachelmason
— Rosie Bentham Fans (@BenthamFans) September 23, 2021

Tara wants to see new faces and the old school back.

We need the old school backkkk. I wanna see some old facesssss #WaterlooRoad
— TyraMalik□ (@Tyramalik1234) September 23, 2021

Sorry, Tara but the original building in Rochdale has been demolished and a new housing estate has been erected as Daniel, perplexedly, expressed on his Twitter account.

Waterloo Road returning? How they gonna do that? Haven’t both the schools they used been knocked down? □ #WaterlooRoad
— Daniel Moriarty (@mozzerjnr) September 23, 2021

Shane was surprised at the news.

Wow! That’s a surprise. #WaterlooRoad https://t.co/KVylCuEmqT
— Shane Andrews MBE (@gingio) September 23, 2021

Jay loves to see it.

Things you ❤️ to see. #WaterlooRoad https://t.co/rcctAkLxvu
— Jay Alderson (@Jay_Alderson04) September 23, 2021

Katie McGlynn - who portrayed Jodie Allen - has recently signed with Hollyoaks and will be a part of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing this year but that hasn't stopped Chloe wanting Scout to appear in the series.

Bring @KatiexMcGlynn back as a teacher, it’s meant to be! □ #WaterlooRoad
— Chloe Knight (@knightchlo) September 23, 2021

But Mala doesn't want the new revamp unless Waterloo Road icons Grantly Budgen (Philip Martin Brown) and Thomas Clarkson (Jason Done) are involved. Shouldn't at all be an issue, Mala, since both characters were killed off in the programmes's original run.

And Hollie wants to pay respects to characters that won't make the reboot.

Unless they can bring Tom clarkson and Grantley budgen back to life I don’t want it #waterlooroad
— Maia Chappell (@MaiaChappell) September 23, 2021

a moment of silence for these angels x #WaterlooRoad pic.twitter.com/g6An6FOA6I
— hollie (@jensmetcalfe) September 23, 2021

Speaking exclusively to InformingBritain.com, former Waterloo Cast members shared their thoughts on the new series.

Adiza Shardow (left) ortrayed Liberty Gordon for two years in the eighth series spoke fondly of how diverse the programme was.

Adiza, said:

"I'm so excited to hear the show is coming back. I felt it was way before it's time as it always had a multicultural cast and touched on important subjects like immigration and homophobia. It was my first ever TV job and it opened up the doors to the industry for me and still to this day I get the odd person recognising me. It was a pleasure to be part of this show and I can’t wait to see the new generation of young British talent come out in this new chapter."

Laura Aikman played Lorna Hutchinson, the Deputy Head Teacher in series 10, speaks of the massive appetite for the show.

Laura, said:

"It was a great show to be a part of and I wish them every success with the reboot. There's certainly a massive appetite for it and a lot of love out there for WR!"

Holly Matthews (right) was cast as Leigh-Ann Galloway in three episodes. Surprisingly, Holly was not aware of the Waterloo Road news when InformingBritain.com approached her for comment.

Holly, said:

"Great to hear of the return of Waterloo Road, great show to be part of and bloody good viewing! People need gritty northern drama in their life and I’m not sure anything has filled the shoes of WR!"

Lisa Riley (left) potrayed Tina Allen throughout Series 7 and returned for a brief stint in Series 8. Tina was the mother of Jodie "Scout" Allen, who Katie McGlynn (right) played.

Speaking exclusively to InformingBritain.com about the reprisal Lisa, said:

"I am absolutely over the moon that Waterloo Road is returning I had such wonderful years working on the show with my incredible daughter Kate, she is such a fantastic, professional actor and we became so bonded on that show. It's such a fantastic platform for Northern actors, cannot wait to see all the upcoming episodes. Plenty of topical, moving stories."

Philip Martin Brown holds the record for appearing in more Waterloo Road episodes than any other actor who popped up in the series. His episode count weighs in an impressive 159 and is unlikely to be beaten. Philip played curmudgeonly cynical Grantly Budgen, Waterloo Road School's longest serving teaching staff. Philip was full of high praise for one of the reboot's Executive Producers when speaking exclusively to InformingBritain.com.

Philip, said:

I wish the show all the best. It is in the very capable hands of Cameron Roache, the Executive Producer. Cameron was heavily involved in the original production."

It is unclear as to when the brand new Waterloo Road will be shown on the BBC but InformingBritain.com can confirm at least one episode has been written and, according to Michelle Smith (the Casting Director), production of the programme will begin soon.

Once InformingBritain.com sources the official broadcast start date, you will find out right here.

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WATERLOO ROAD SET TO RETURN AS FORMER CAST SPEAK OF THE REBOOT | WATERLOO ROAD EXCLUSIVE

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