Karen Pirie is an exciting new crime series that's wrapping up on Sunday, October 9. Following on from Grace, ITV commissioned another feature-length crime miniseries that's based on the works of another massively popular crime writer.
This time, ITV has turned to legendary Scottish author, Val McDermid. The Karen Pirie miniseries is based on the first book in the series, The Distant Echo, and has been adapted by EastEnders' Emer Kenny. Val promises that "audiences are in for a treat"!
Since Karen Pirie is coming from World Productions (the same company behind Line of Duty and Bodyguard!) and its got such big writing talent behind it, the show could well be on track to become one of the very best ITV dramas out there.
Here’s everything you need to know about Karen Pirie...
When is Karen Pirie on TV?
Karen Pirie began airing on ITV on Sunday, September 25 at 8 pm, with the remaining two episodes airing on a weekly basis.
The third and final episode of Karen Pirie airs on Sunday, October 9.
Will Karen Pirie be shown in the US?
We still haven't heard anything about a potential US release date, though as soon as we learn more we'll be sure to update this guide.
How many episodes of Karen Pirie are there?
The first series of Karen Pirie will be three episodes long, and each episode runs for 120 minutes.
Karen Pirie episode recaps
What happened in episode 1?
In the first episode of Karen Pirie, we were introduced to the titular detective as she takes on a cold case, that has been put back into the public sphere after appearing on a true crime podcast. It's the case of Rosie Duff, who was originally found murdered in 1996.
We were introduced to Rosie, who was a barmaid, as well as the three friends who frequented her pub: Ziggy, Alex and Weird, who also claimed to have found her body in the graveyard where she had been stabbed to death.
In the present day Ziggy seems to be riddled with guilt, but Alex and Weird tell him to keep it together and it's clear they're hiding something from that night, as they claimed Rosie didn't attend a party but she did and had a confrontation with Ziggy.
Ziggy becomes a key suspect in the case, but they're unable to question him further after he's hit and killed by a car, and we have no idea who the driver was. Was someone trying to silence him?
What happened in episode 2?
With Ziggy killed off, Karen's review of the Rosie Duff cold case was transformed into a live investigation, with the team now interested in tracking down who was responsible for the original death and who might be targeting the suspects in the present.
In episode 2, we learned that Rosie was in a secret relationship at the time. What's more, Karen learned that Rosie's diary said the relationship was on the rocks, but her close friend Iona believed things were going well - could this mystery figure be involved somehow?
Suspicions also arose around Weird, as his alibi from Dorothy fell through and forensic evidence proving Rosie was in his car turned up. To make matters worse, he Weird was fairly uncooperative when he spoke to the police, despite apparently feeling a lot of guilt about her death.
Weird could end up being the next victim in the case, as Rosie's daughter Grace appeared in his house at the end of the episode. Could she be the one targeting the original suspects?
Karen Pirie cast
Lauren Lyle (Outlander) will star as the titular detective. According to ITV, Karen is “a young and fearless Scottish investigator with a quick mouth and tenacious desire for the truth.”
Lauren says: “I am completely overjoyed to be bringing the formidable force that is DS Karen Pirie to life through Emer Kenny's slick adaptation. The world Emer has created using the backbone of Val McDermid's much-loved books is electrifying and hooked me immediately.
“I couldn't ask for a more creative, supportive and energetic team to be joining. I'm so thankful to Val, Emer, World Productions and ITV for welcoming me wholeheartedly on board.”
Have been secretly screaming with excitement for months. Detective Sergeant. So overjoyed. Here we go. https://t.co/SRCGRUl3y0May 11, 2021
Joining Lauren are Emer Kenny (Harlots) as Karen’s friend River Wilde, Chris Jenks (Sex Education) as Jason ‘Mint’ Murray and Zach Wyatt (Blithe Spirit) as DS Phil Parhatka.
Anna Russell-Martin (Casualty) play teenage murder victim Rosie Duff, and Jhon Lumsden (Pancake), Jack Hesketh (Besa) and Buom Tihngang (Death in Paradise) will play Sigmund ‘Ziggy’ Malkiewicz, Tom ‘Weird’ Mackie and Alex Gilbey, the three students originally suspected of her murder.
Michael Schaeffer (The Salisbury Poisonings), Ariyon Bakare (His Dark Materials) and Alec Newman (Unforgotten) play the adult versions of the three boys.
Karen Pirie plot
ITV revealed that the first series of Karen Pirie revolved around the historic case of Rosie Duff’s murder, which Karen's put in charge of after the cold case becomes the subject of a provocative true-crime podcast a quarter of a century after her death.
Rosie was originally found murdered in the Scottish university town of St Andrews back in 1996, and three drunken students (Tom, Jason and Alex) were discovered at the scene who claimed to have found the body. Although suspicions fell upon the boys, there was a lack of forensic evidence, so no charges were made.
Now the case is back in the public eye, it appears that someone is willing to risk everything to keep the truth hidden. Do the three men know more than they let on all those years ago? How flawed was the original investigation? Will Karen finally uncover the truth of what happened that fateful evening?
Is there a Karen Pirie trailer?
Yes! The full trailer introduces the case and sees Karen and her team starting to get to the bottom of things in what will be Karen Pirie's first murder case. By the sounds of things, the original investigation was clearly mishandled. Hopefully, they'll finally manage to uncover what really went on all those years ago. Check the trailer out below:
