Detective Karen Pirie is back for a second season to solve an historic murder case
Karen Pirie is back to dig deep into a long-forgotten case in a second series of the ITV hit show.
When a historic murder case in St Andrews, Scotland, becomes the subject of a true crime podcast, fearless Detective Inspector Karen Pirie is tasked with solving it.
Based on the books by Val McDermid, the second season of the crime thriller is adapted from the book A Darker Domain by Emer Kenny and produced by World Productions.
Simon Heath, World Productions chief executive and executive producer, said he had “never been asked so often about when a character is returning to our screens”.
Who is in the cast of Karen Pirie season 2?
Lauren Lyle
Lauren Lyle will reprise her role as Detective Inspector Karen Pirie.
The Scottish actress is best known for her main role as Marsali MacKimmie Fraser in the drama Outlander.
She has also starred in Vigil, Toxic Town and The Bombing of Pan Am 103.
Chris Jenks
Chris Jenks plays DC Jason Murray, Pirie’s sincere and lovable sidekick.
The actor has also starred in Vigil with Lauren Lyle and played Steve Morley in Sex Education.
He played Jamie in The Athena, Archibald Cosmos in Miracle Worker and Josh Woods in Beyond Paradise.
Zach Wyatt
Zach Wyatt is DS Phil Parhatka, an officer with a complicated love life.
He has previously starred in The Witcher: Blood Origin as Syndril and Malcolm in A Little Life.
And he played Jimi Hendrix in Urban Myths.
Rakhee Thakrar
Rakhee Thakrar plays Bel Richmond, a podcaster who reopens the cold case.
The English actress, 41, played Shabnam Masood in the BBC soap opera EastEnders from 2014 to 2016.
She has also starred in Sex Education and the 2023 film Wonka.
The cast for season two will also include:
- Emer Kenny as River Wilde (Father Brown, The Curse)
- Steve John Shepherd as DI Simon Lees (Eastenders, Hetty Feather)
- Saskia Ashdown as DC Isla Stark (The Rig, Six Four)
- James Cosmo as Brodie Grant (Braveheart, Nightsleeper)
- Frances Tomelty as Mary Grant (Unforgotten, The Woman in the Wall)
- Julia Brown as Cat Grant (Shetland, World on Fire)
- John Michie as Fergus Sinclair (Coronation Street, Taggart)
- Mark Rowley as Mick Prentice (Rogue Heroes, One Day)
- Kat Ronney as Bonnie (Dinosaur, McDonald & Dodds)
- Conor Berry as Andy Kerr (Dept. Q, Schemers)
- Stuart Campbell as Kevin (Rogue Heroes, Shetland)
Where is Karen Pirie season 2 filmed?
Filming took place for season two in Scotland and on the Mediterranean island of Malta.
The first series in 2022 was filmed in the university town St Andrews in Fife.
The second season has seen crews back in Fife and shooting in the towns of Inverkeithing, Dysart, Kinghorn and Anstruther.
The production then moved to Malta, where scenes were shot in the capital, Valletta and the city of Mdina.
When is Karen Pirie season 2 on and how many episodes are there?
Season two of Karen Pirie will return to ITV on Sunday, 20 July, with the first episode broadcast from 8pm to 10pm.
There are three episodes lasting two hours each in the new series, which will air weekly.
All will also be available to stream on ITVX.