Nicola Walker is returning as DCI Cassie Stuart for Unforgotten Season 4.
Once again she'll be starring opposite Sanjeev Bhaskar, who plays DS Sunil "Sunny" Khan. The new season will focus on a fresh murder as the duo investigate the killing of a man whose body has been stored in a freezer for thirty years.
The new series starts on Monday February 22 on ITV at 9pm. It will also air in the US on PBS, but a release date is still to be confirmed.
Nicola Walker reveals more about what we can expect...
Where do we find Cassie in the new series?
Nicola Walker: “When we left Cassie at the end of the last series she felt it necessary to stop, she definitely had what would have been loosely termed ‘a breakdown’ and we were left wondering if she was going to come back.
"When we meet her this series you realise she doesn’t really want to come back but she is in a terrible position that she will lose a massive amount of her pension pay out on a technicality if she doesn’t come back and complete a certain number of months to comply with her pension.
“It is awful, she is in a complete trap so she agrees to come back so she can access the full amount of her pension because her dad is getting more and more ill and she is looking at the fact that she will probably be financially responsible for her father’s care.
"So she is completely caught. Her entire career she has very dedicatedly given to the police force. She is angry and feels very betrayed and that’s how she goes into this series’ story."
What has been the most rewarding part of filming this series?
Nicola: "The fact we have been able to complete [filming was stopped at one point due to the pandemic]. Who knew that would be the most rewarding thing? The fact that we all managed to get back together and complete filming was immensely rewarding.
“But really, as ever, it’s been the relationships that me and Sanjeev have made with the actors playing the suspects. They are always the most rewarding days at work, for me the most rewarding scenes to play and days at work are the interview scenes.
"They just keep getting better and better and what actors do when you’re sitting opposite them at the table when they have 10 pages of story to tell you, it never stops being impressive or surprising. You just don’t know what that actor is going to do with what writer Chris (Lang) has given them until you are sat in the interview room with them. And Andy (Wilson) shoots them very quickly."
"There is a small bit of me that wants to punish someone."Set a reminder, #Unforgotten returns to your screens Monday 22nd Feb at 9pm on @ITV. pic.twitter.com/J93CEHFPDqFebruary 17, 2021
What was it like returning to filming after lockdown?
Nicola: “I actually felt incredibly safe and it was such a positive feeling to go back and a real perspective giver because our business is full of freelancers and what was amazing was seeing the majority of the crew that had managed to come back.
“Everyone was really relieved to be back in the working environment although it bore no relation to our normal working environment. Mainstreet did it so well, it was so carefully planned and I felt incredibly safe.”
Is Sunny worried about Cassie?
Nicola: “Yes, you see it quite a lot that Cassie will be pushing too hard, she wants to get the case completed and you can see Sunny seeing that and worrying about that. He knows her inside out so he knows better than her that there is a part of her that needs to be back at work, but I think he loves her enough to know that really, the best thing for Cassie would be to not be there."
