THE creators of Bodyguard have come back with a new thriller that investigates a reopened murder case, Karen Pirie.

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.

This is the cast that 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.

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.”

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 this character brings humour to the show and how his relationship with Karen Pirie 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 an actor but she is also the writer that adapted the novel to the ITV show, Karen Pirie.

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."

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 the detective Phil Parhatka, who was supposed to be promoted, but Karen Pirie 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.

Of course, he will have to speak to the detectives once again to try and discover what happened to Rosie that night.

Alex Newman has taken part in several shows such as The Last Kingdom, Shetland and Waterloo Road.

Jack Hesketh as Weird Jnr

Weird 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

The creators of Bodyguard seemed to want Michael on their cast once again, and this time he was given the role of Weird Snr.

Michael Shaeffer will have to juggle his memory and try to remember what happened on the drunken night that he foud Rosie's body, while hanging out with his friends.

He forms part of the suspected trio that might have brutally murdered Rosie.

Besides Bodyguard, you might have also caught Michael on Chernobyl or Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Buom Tihngang as Alex Jnr

Alex is another student that found Rosie's body and as a student he is portrayed by Buom Tihngang.

Buom is not new to the television scene, having had the role of Ryan's friend in Doctor Who season 12, Tibo, 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 will be portraying the character of 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.

Gilly Gilchrist as DI Barney MacLennan

DI Barney MacLennan is the one that first investigated Rosie's murder case in 1996.

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 had other appearances in Emmerdale and In Plain Sight.

Kevin Mains as DS Jimmy Lawson Jnr

In 1996, DI 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.

Stuart Bowman as Chief Supt Lawson Snr

Fast forward to almost 26 years later and DI Jimmy Lawson has now been promoted to Chief Supt Lawson.

Karen reports to the Chief when reopening the case that he had previously worked on.

Chief Supt Lawson will be portrayed by Stuart Bowman, whom you might have caught in The Control Room, Grantchester and Alex Rider.

It is not the first time that Stuart is working with this production team after he was also featured in Bodyguard.

Gemma McElhinney as PC Janice Hogg Jnr

PC Janice Hogg will only feature in the flashbacks of what happened on the night that the three drunken boys discovered Rosie's dead body.

She will be portrayed by Gemma McElhinney who also featured on 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

Rosie's murder case had gathered such suspense and popularity, that Bel Richmond decided to run a podcast on it.

This podcast creates such public pressure on the DI's office, that they are urged to reopen the investigation.

Rakhee featured in popular shows such as EastEnders and Sex Education.

Who else in the cast?

You will also get to see some characters who do not play a lead role but are just as important to the plot as others.

These include Bobby Rainsbury as Grace Galloway and Steve John Shepherd as DI Simon Lees.

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When is Karen Pirie on ITV?

You can watch Karen Pirie as it airs on ITV on Sunday, September 25, 2022, at 8pm.

If you miss the premiere, worry not because you can catch the series on the ITV Hub.

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