Karen Pirie cast: Who appears in the ITV show?
KAREN Pirie is a new thriller investigating a cold case from the nineties.
The show was announced back in 2020 and since then the cast worked endlessly to have the show premiere this autumn.
Who is in Karen Pirie?
The new ITV show is based on Val McDermid's novel The Distant Echo.
It will see DS Karen Pirie investigate a reopened murder case after 25 years.
Teenager Rosie Duff was found brutally murdered in the Scottish university town of St Andrews in 1996 and three drunken students were the prime suspects.
Here's a look at the case who will be looking at uncovering the truth in Karen Pirie.
Lauren Lyle as DS Karen Pirie
Outlander star Lauren Lyle will take on the role of DC Karen Pirie.
Lauren spent a great deal of time discovering her character with the best-selling author of the book, Val and with a detective she met.
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In the books, Karen is unfashionable and odd, and doesn't really mind what she looks like because her main focus is her job.
That is why Lauren worked closely with costume designer Lesley Abernethy to make her look humble but cool at the same time.
To get into character, she also explained how she got to understand the plot and the case like a detective.
She said: "I read the scripts hundreds of times.
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"Like a detective, I got 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.”
Lauren appeared in Broken, alongside Sean Bean, in 2017, and played Jade Antoniak in Vigil.
She has played Marshall in Outlander since 2017.
Chris Jenks as DC Jason Murray
The Sex Education star will be taking on a very different role this time in a very different series.
Portraying DC Jason Murray, Chris explained how his character brings humour to the show and how his relationship with Karen evolves through the episodes.
He said: "Jason is really well-intentioned and good-natured, but just doesn't quite get things right a lot of the time.
"He's desperately trying to hit the mark, but he just misses it.
"He's maybe not the brightest detective on the team, but he kind of makes up for it in his hard work and through his relationship with Karen - they develop into a really good team and she helps him find his stride.
"That relationship builds through the series - at first, they don't really see eye to eye and she's quite frustrated that she's been given such a potentially useless member of the team!
"But he really shows his qualities as they move on and eventually he comes into his own, and really stands up for himself in the later episodes."
Chris explained Jason to be a sort of mummy's boy who loves working out in the gym and enjoys doing basic things in life too such as going out and dating.
Emer Kenny as River Wilde
Emer Kenny is not just acting in the TV drama - she is also the writer that adapted the McDermid's novel.
You might have previously seen her portray the character of Zsa Zsa Carter on EastEnders but this time she will be returning to television screens as River Wilde.
River is Karen's best friend and despite not being involved in the case, she still has a few tips and ideas to give Karen.
Emer said: "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."
Emer has also starred in Father Brown - as Bunty - and played Natasha Fantoni in 2022 series The Curse.
Zach Wyatt as DS Phil Parhatka
Zach Wyatt is known for his roles in The Witcher: Blood Origin, Blithe Spirit and Urban Myths.
Now he takes on the role of detective Phil Parhatka, who was supposed to be promoted, but Karen took the position instead.
Zach said: "He's a very diligent, driven detective - this job is all he has ever wanted to do and he's consumed by his work, he takes it very seriously but at a healthy level.
"He puts an immense amount of care and detail into his work and I think that really comes out in his relationship with Karen throughout the series.
"It's a relationship that really values honesty - they're very compatible because they desperately care about doing the right thing, whether that's with each other and in their fields."
Jhon Lumsden as Ziggy Jnr
One of the teenagers that is the main suspect in Rosie Duff's murder is Ziggy.
While taking a look at the past and what happened on that night, Ziggy Jr is portrayed by Jhon Lumsden.
Jhon previously appeared in Doctors and Pancake but now takes on a bigger role that sees him claiming that he found Rosie's dead body.
Alex Newman as Ziggy Snr
When all grown up, Ziggy is portrayed by Alec Newman.
Now a surgeon, Ziggy is questioned again by detectives as they try and discover what happened to Rosie that night.
Scottish actor Newman appeared in season six of Shetland and has had roles in The Last Kingdom, and Waterloo Road.
Jack Hesketh as Weird Jnr
Tom "Weird" Mackie is the other drunk student that allegedly found Rosie's body that night, almost 26 years ago.
His younger character will be portrayed by Jack Hesketh, who is yet to gain more popularity.
If you enjoy watching Serbian shows maybe, you might have caught him on Besa as David.
Michael Shaeffer as Weird Snr
World Productions, creators of Bodyguard, seemed to want Michael Shaeffer on their cast once again, and this time he was given the role of Tom "Weird" Mackie Snr.
Weird will have to juggle his memory and try to remember what happened on the drunken night that he found Rosie's body, while hanging out with his friends.
He forms part of the suspected trio that might have brutally murdered Rosie.
Besides Bodyguard - where he played Richard Longcross - you might have caught Michael on Chernobyl or Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Buom Tihngang as Alex Jnr
is another student who found Rosie's body and the student is portrayed by Buom Tihngang.
Buom is not new to telly, having had the role of Ryan's friend, Tibo, in Doctor Who season 12, and also appeared in Death In Paradise and Endeavour.
Ariyon Bakare as Alex Snr
Alex Snr, portrayed by Ariyon Bakare will have to take a look at the past and try to remember what happened on that drunken night out with his friends, in which they also found Rosie's body.
You might have caught Ariyon portraying Carlo Boreal in His Dark Materials.
However, he also featured in Crossfire, Good Omens and Doctor Who.
Anna Russell-Martin as Rosie Duff
Anna Russell-Martin portrays Rosie Duff, the teenager who was found dead at St Andrews in 1996 but three drunken boys.
Anna featured in shows such as Annika and Casualty.
Anna made her professional debut in one-woman show Bunny in Glasgow, before she even graduated in 2018 with an acting degree.
Gilly Gilchrist as DI Barney MacLennan
DI Barney MacLennan was the first to investigate Rosie's 1996 murder.
He will be portrayed by Gilly Gilchrist, who is not new to British TV.
You might know him from his role as Geordie Chisholm in Outlander but he's also appeared in Emmerdale and In Plain Sight.
Over the years Gilchrist has had parts in Taggart, Peak Practice, River City and even a millennium update of soap Crossroads.
Kevin Mains as DS Jimmy Lawson Jnr
In 1996, DS Jimmy Lawson was also involved in Rosie Duff's murder case.
His character will be portrayed by Kevin Mains who is known for appearing in Shetland, River City and Outlaw King.
He also played Conor in 2015 BBC sitcom Mountain Goats.
Stuart Bowman as Chief Supt Lawson Snr
Fast forward to almost 26 years later and Lawson has been promoted to Chief Supt Lawson.
Karen reports to the Chief when reopening the case that he had previously worked on.
Chief Supt Lawson is portrayed by Stuart Bowman, who's appeared in The Control Room, Grantchester, Versailles, and Alex Rider.
It is not the first time that Stuart is working with this production team after he was also featured in Bodyguard as Stephen Hunter-Dunn.
Gemma McElhinney as PC Janice Hogg Jnr
PC Janice Hogg will only feature in the flashbacks of what happened on the night the three drunken boys discovered Rosie's dead body.
She will be portrayed by Gemma McElhinney who also featured in Beats and Two Doors Down.
When discovering the body, she was the one that the students flagged down to go and help.
Rakhee Thakrar as Bel Richmond
Bel Richmond is the podcaster bringing Rosie's murder case back into the spotlight.
The podcast places public pressure on the DI's office, with them urged to reopen the investigation.
Rakhee, who played Emily Sands in Sex Education, starred as Maya Benshaw in Rules Of The Game and was Shabnam Masood in EastEnders from 2014-2016.
Who else is in the cast?
Other important characters are:
- Bobby Rainsbury as Grace Galloway
- Steve John Shepherd as DI Simon Lees
- Daniel Portman as Colin Duff
- Gerry Lynch as Colin Duff Sr
- Barrie Hunter as Professor Keen
- Gary Lamont as Paul
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When is Karen Pirie on ITV?
Karen Pirie premieres on ITV on Sunday, September 25, 2022, at 8pm.
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It consists of three, two hour long episodes airing on consecutive Sundays.
But if you can't wait for them to air, all three episodes are available to watch on the ITV Hub.