ITV’s crime thriller series Karen Pirie is returning to living rooms across the UK on Sunday night for a second season after three years away.
The drama series follows detective sergeant Karen Pirie (Lauren Lyle), who gets thrown into the investigation of an unsolved murder case 25 years on after the crime becomes the subject of a popular true crime podcast.
Scottish investigator Karen is young and fearless and regularly shows that she isn’t afraid to speak her mind if it gets her closer to discovering the truth.
The first season was subtitled The Distant Echo and came in three parts during the autumn of 2022, while season two will be subtitled A Darker Domain.
While The Distant Echo focused on the unsolved murder of a barmaid, A Darker Domain – also a three-parter – will focus on a kidnapping case from 1984.
So, let’s dig deeper…
Is Karen Pirie based on a true story?
While its storylines don’t seem all that far fetched compared to the crime stories we hear in the news every day, Karen Pirie is not actually based on a true story.
The ITV drama was adapted for television by actress and screenwriter, Emer Kenny – who also stars in the three-part series as Karen’s best friend and flatmate River.
Writer Emer and lead star Lauren have previously spoken about the intense research that went into crafting the show and building the characters, even though they are fictional.
‘It was really interesting when we were filming, we started at St Andrews Cathedral and one night we had police escorts with us,’ said Lauren.
‘One of them was a 20-something blonde woman, and it turns out she was a detective from Methil, the same tiny town Karen is from! To me, she was the real Karen Pirie.
‘So we exchanged numbers and we stayed in touch, it was like looking into a mirror for Karen.’
Is Karen Pirie based on a book?
While the murder drama might be fictional, it is, in fact, based on a popular series of crime novels.
The character of Karen Pirie was created by best-selling Scottish writer Val McDermid in her book The Distant Echo.
But fans of the books shouldn’t worry, as the producers of the drama had Val’s full blessing to create a TV adaptation – the author herself was brought in to consult on the show’s direction.
EastEnders writer Emer has also promised that the series does end with a resolution to the murder case they are currently solving.
But, Val has six books altogether and there’s a seventh in the works for this series, so there is a possibility we could be seeing more of Karen on our screens in the future.
‘There is a resolution to this particular story, but there’s absolutely scope for Karen to continue solving crimes,’ writer Emer said.
‘There are six books and Val is writing a seventh, so there are all the possibilities there.’
Karen Pirie airs on Sunday, July 20, at 8pm.
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