Going with the FLO

Marsha Thomason on taking the lead as The Bay’s new family liaison officer…

- IAN MACEWAN

CRIME DRAMA2022 SPECIAL

THE BAY

NEW WEDNESDAY / ITV / 9PM / EP 1 of 6 / DRAMA

Some jobs you can only do for so long. The first two series of atmospheric, Morecambe-set crime drama The Bay followed family liaison officer (FLO) Lisa Armstrong (Morven Christie) as she supported two families during police investigations into a pair of missing twins, and a solicitor killed on his own doorstep.

As the show returns to ITV for a third run, Lisa has moved away and her replacement, DS Jenn Townsend (Marsha Thomason), has arrived in town with her two children, ready to start a new life.

But Jenn is in at the deep end as the body of promising young boxer Saif Rahman is found in the bay.

Dispatched by boss DI Tony Manning (Daniel Ryan) to look after the bereaved family with colleague DS Karen Hobson (Erin Shanagher), the outwardly confident Jenn is dealing with past trauma and facing challenges of her own as she moves in with a new partner and his rebellious teenage daughter.

We caught up with new recruit Marsha, 45 – who starred in hit British dramas Playing the Field, Pie in the Sky and Where the Heart Is before crossing the Atlantic to work on US series such as Lost and Las Vegas – to get her case notes…

Marsha, had you watched The Bay before you joined the cast?

Yes! When the first series launched in 2019, I was back in England shooting the first series of [Sky political thriller] COBRA, and I watched it and loved it. So I was familiar with the world of The Bay, and excited when I was given the opportunity to audition.