ITV Renews ‘Karen Pirie’ For Season 2
ITV has ordered a 2nd Season of ‘Karen Pirie‘, the drama starring Lauren Lyle, adapted by Emer Kenny from Val McDermid’s hugely popular cold case novels, produced by World Productions, the company behind ‘Line of Duty’ and ‘The Pembrokeshire Murders’.
The series follows DS Karen Pirie (Lauren Lyle – ‘Outlander’, ‘Vigil’) as the young and fearless Scottish investigator with a quick mouth and tenacious desire for the truth. The three-episode second season will be based on A Darker Domain, which sees Karen reopen an investigation into the unsolved kidnap of a wealthy young heiress and her baby son back in 1985.
“I’m thrilled that we will continue the life of our fearless young detective Karen Pirie, and of course, her bumbag,” commented Lyle. “I’ve known for a while how well the show has gone down behind the scenes so it’s been a joy to see audiences want more. It’s a creative honour to work alongside Emer Kenny with the backbone of Val McDermid’s story, season one was incredibly exciting building an original character we hadn’t seen before. I look forward to getting the gang back together and finally being able to answer the question: ‘Please say there will be a season two?’ with an ‘Oh yes.’”
Emer Kenny (‘The Curse’, ‘Save Me’), will return to write and executive produce the series along with Scottish writer Gillian Roger Park (‘Sneakerhead’, ‘The Young Offenders’). Karen Pirie will premiere on ITV1 and ITVX.
‘Karen Pirie’ launched with 6.6m viewers and averaged 5.9m across the series making it one of the most watched new dramas on ITV last year. The series was also in the top 10 dramas on ITVX. Described as ‘modern and fresh’ by The Times, Karen Pirie was also hailed as ‘meaty, well-paced and sure-footed’ by The Guardian, and ‘the best new police serial this year’ by the Daily Mail. Heat magazine described the series as ‘a truly exceptional example of the TV crime drama.’
“We’re thrilled the audience loves Karen Pirie as much as we do and can’t wait to get going on Val McDermid’s fantastic A Darker Domain with World Productions,” said ITV Drama Commissioner Huw Kennair Jones, who commissioned the series, alongside ITV by Head of Drama, Polly Hill. “Returning to the world and characters that Emer so skillfully created and Lauren so brilliantly realised promises to be as exciting and fresh as series 1.”
The drama will be executive produced by multi-award-winning World Productions CEO, Simon Heath (‘Save Me’, ‘Line of Duty’, ‘Anne’) and Emer Kenny. World Productions are the producers of ‘Line of Duty’, ‘Bodyguard’, ‘Vigil’, ‘Save Me’ and ‘The Pembrokeshire Murders’, as well as soon to be aired ‘The Hunt for Raoul Moat’ and medical thriller, ‘Malpractice’, both premiering on ITV1 and streaming on ITVX.
“The combination of Emer’s brilliant writing and Lauren’s terrific performance brought a magical chemistry to Val’s much loved Scottish detective,” said Heath. “We can’t wait to resume Karen’s journey later in the year.”
Emer Kenny is a writer and actress whose credits include the acclaimed Sky’s ‘Save Me Too’, Channel 4’s ‘The Curse’ and Netflix’s ‘The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself’. Emer also stars in Karen Pirie, as the detective’s best friend and confidante, River Wilde.
“The first series of Karen Pirie was a true labour of love, so it was thrilling to receive such an amazing response from audiences,” commented Kenny. “That reaction has meant we’ve been asked back to make more, and we will happily oblige – the second book is partially set in Tuscany, and we all fancy the trip! Thank you to everyone who watched our show, and to ITV for ordering a second round. We’ll endeavour to bring you something refreshing and riveting (with lovely Italian views).”
Filming will commence in Scotland during early 2024 and details of further casting and key production personnel will be announced in the coming months. International distribution will once again be handled by ITV Studios.
‘Karen Pirie‘ Season 1 can be found on ITVX. Season 2 does not yet have a premiere date, but won’t air until at least 2024 on ITV1 & ITVX. The series airs on Britbox in the USA. If you want to keep track of this or any other show, you can add them via our Never Miss system, and you’ll be notified when it gets a UK premiere date.
