Sleeping SECRETS

LAUREN LYLE introduces us to TV’s latest cold-case crime crusader

- VICTORIA WILSON

KAREN PIRIE SUNDAY, 8PM, ITV DRAMA (BOX SET, ITV HUB)

It’s almost 20 years since Scottish writer Val McDermid first saw her characters Dr Tony Hill and DI Carol Jordan brought to life in the hit drama Wire in the Blood, starring Robson Green and Hermione Norris. Now, another of her top crime fighters is set to take centre stage in ITV’s new cold-case thriller, Karen Pirie.

From the makers of Line of Duty and Bodyguard, the series is based on the first story in Val’s bestselling Karen Pirie series of novels, The Distant Echo, and has been adapted for the small screen by Father Brown star Emer Kenny.

Lauren Lyle (Outlander, Vigil) plays the titular character, a fearless Scottish detective sergeant who, in the first of three feature-length episodes, is tasked with reopening the unsolved 1990s murder of a young barmaid, Rosie Duff (Anna Russell-Martin), in the university town of St Andrews.

With Rosie’s death now the subject of a true-crime podcast, Karen vows to crack the case but soon finds herself at odds with the officers who led the original investigation.

Here, Lauren, 29, gives TV Times her case notes…

How do you feel about taking on your first leading role, Lauren?

There’s an added pressure that comes with being the ‘name’ of the show itself and telling people I am the Karen Pirie of Karen Pirie!