Karen Pirie is a British crime drama television series based on ''Inspector Karen Pirie'' series of novels by Val McDermid. The first series began on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

on 25 September 2022 and concluded on 9 October 2022. On 21 February 2023, it was announced the series had been commissioned for a second season.

Plot

Karen Pirie, a young detective-sergeant, is in charge of reopening the cold case for the murder of a barmaid. Series 1 is based on the first novel ''The Distant Echo''.

Cast

* Lauren Lyle as DS Karen Pirie * Chris Jenks as DC Jason Murray *Zach Wyatt as Phil Parhatka * Jhon Lumsden as Ziggy Jnr * Jack Hesketh a Weird Jnr * Buom Tihngang as Alex Jnr *

Alec Newman Alec Newman (born 27 November 1974) is a Scottish actor best known for portraying Paul Atreides in the Sci Fi Channel's 2000 miniseries adaptation of Frank Herbert's ''Dune''. Early life Newman was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His father is San ...

as Ziggy Snr * Michael Sheffer as Weird Snr * Ariyon Bakare as Alex Snr * Bobby Rainsbury as Grace Galloway * Anna Russell-Martin as Rosie Duff *

Gilly Gilchrist Gilly is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. History Gilly is first mentioned in 1179 as ''de Iusliaco''. In 1278 it was mentioned as ''Gillie''. Geography Gilly has an area, , of . Of this area, or ...

as DI Barney MacLennan *

Kevin Mains Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...

as DI Jimmy Lawson Jnr * Stuart Bowman as Chief Supt Lawson Snr *

Gemma McElhinney Gemma or GEMMA may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gemma (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Gemma (surname), includes a list of people with the name Science and technology Biology * Gemm ...

as PC Janice Hogg * Emer Kenny as River Wilde * Rakhee Thakrar as Bel Richmond *

Steve John Shepherd Stephen John Shepherd (born 1 August 1973) is an English actor. He is known for his portrayals of Jo in the TV drama ''This Life'' and Michael Moon in the soap opera ''EastEnders'' from 2010 to 2013. Personal life Shepherd was born in London ...

as DI Simon Lees

Production

In May 2021, it was announced that Lauren Lyle would star as the title character. Emer Kenny wrote the adaptation and the producers are the same as for the series ''Line of duty'' or ''Bodyguard''. The creative team is unusually young. Series One was written by Emer Kenny and directed by Gareth Bryn.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 91% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 8.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Clever and twisty, ''Karen Pirie'' refreshingly revamps the traditional grizzled detective procedural by putting a young woman on the case." Series One averaged 4.82 million viewers.

Awards

For writing the first episode, Emer Kenny was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Episode in a TV Series.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2022 British television series debuts 2020s British crime drama television series 2020s British workplace drama television series British detective television series British thriller television series English-language television shows ITV crime dramas Television series by ITV Studios Television series by World Productions Television shows filmed in Scotland