After nearly three years away Lauren Lyle is officially back in action as DI Karen Pirie (yep she's got a promotion btw) for a second season of ITV's Karen Pirie.
The detective series is based on Val McDermid's crime novel series and the new season will see Karen and the team investigate a decades old cold case as they look into the kidnapping of Cat Grant, the daughter of oil tycoon Brodie Grant, and her young son.
Since 1984 Cat and her son have never been found, but when a body turns up in the present day Karen and her team are on the case to discover what happened all those years ago.
And with a new series and new crime, comes a bunch of new characters, and so here's everything you need to know about the cast of Karen Pirie, from the returning familiar faces to the new cast you need to pay attention to.
The full cast of Karen Pirie:
- Lauren Lyle as DI Karen Pirie
- Chris Jenks as DC Jason Murray
- Zach Wyatt as DS Phil Parhatka
- Emer Kenny as River Wilde
- Rakhee Thakrar as Bel Richmond
- Saskia Ashdown as DC Isla Clark
- Julia Brown as Cat Grant
- James Cosmo as Brodie Grant
- Frances Tomelty as Mary Grant
- John Michie as Fergus Sinclair
- Mark Rowley as Mike Prentice
- Kat Ronney as Bonnie
The returning cast of Karen Pirie
Lauren Lyle as DI Karen Pirie
Who is DI Karen Pirie?: The show's lead is Karen Pirie, who has been promoted from DC to DI in the new series. She's the one heading up the investigation into Cat's disappearance.
What else has Lauren Lyle been in?: Lauren is best known for her role in Outlander as Marsali. She's also appeared in The Outrun, Vigil, Toxic Town and The Bombing of Pan Am 103.
Chris Jenks as DC Jason Murray
Who is DC Jason Murrary?: Jason works on Karen's team and is also known as 'The Mint'.
What else has Chris Jenks been in?: Prior to Karen Pirie, Chris was best known for appearing in Netflix's Sex Education where he played the role of Steve. He's also appeared alongside Laura in the series Vigil and appeared in a number of episodes of Beyond Paradise.
Zach Wyatt as DS Phil Parhatka
Who is DS Phil Parhatka?: Phil works alongside Jason and Karen, and he is currently in a secret relationship with Karen.
What else has Zach Wyatt been in?: Zach is known for his role in Netflix's The Witcher: Blood Origin and his on stage role as Malcolm in A Little Life.
Emer Kenny as River Wilde
Who is River Wilde?: River is Karen's best friend and a professor of forensic anthropology and archaeology, and this time around she's helping Karen on the case.
What else has Emer Kenny been in?: Emer is one half of the writing team for Karen Pirie, working alongside novelist Val McDermid on the adaptation. Outside of her writing she's also been in The Curse, Father Brown and Pramface amongst many other shows.
Rakhee Thakrar as Bel Richmond
Who is Bel Richmond?: Bel is a podcaster and documentary maker who Karen meets in season one when working on the Rosie Duff case and thankfully she's back for season two.
What else has Rakhee Thakar been in?: You'll most likely recognise Rakhee from her role as the English teacher Miss Sands in Sex Education. She's also had main roles in Eastenders, Wonka and the recent TV series of Four Weddings and a Funeral.
The new cast joining Karen Pirie season 2
Saskia Ashdown as DC Isla Stark
Who is DC Isla Stark?: Isla is new to the team this season and has been brought in by Karen's boss to keep an eye on Karen.
What else has Saskia Ashdown been in?: Prior to Karen Pirie, Saskia had appeared in episodes of The Rig, Six Four, Trust Me and Annika.
Julia Brown as Cat Grant
Who is Cat Grant?: Cat is the young mother who is kidnapped along with her son all the way back in 1984.
What else has Julia Brown been in?: Julia first appeared on TV back in 2014 as part of CBBC's MI High. Since then she's gone onto appear in The Last Kingdom, The Alienist, Shetland, and World on Fire.
James Cosmo as Brodie Grant
Who is Brodie Grant?: Brodie is Cat's dad and a successful oil tycoon.
What else has James Cosmo been in?: James is of course best known for his roles in movies such as Braveheart, Troy, Highlander, and The Last Legion. More recently he's appeared in TV shows such as Nightsleeper, Game of Thrones, The Durrells, Shetland and many, many more.
Frances Tomelty as Mary Grant
Who is Mary Grant?: Mary is Cat's mother and the ex-wife of Brodie.
What else has Frances Tomelty been in?: Frances is best known for her TV work including roles in shows such as Catastrophe, The Woman in the Wall, The Nevers and Vanity Fair.
John Michie as Fergus Sinclair
Who is Fergus Sinclair?: Fergus is the father of Cat's son and he also worked with Brodie.
What else has John Michie been in?: John is best known for his roles in the TV shows Taggart, Coronation Street and Holby City. He's also been involved in projects such as Ridley and Our Girl.
Mark Rowley as Mick Prentice
Who is Mick Prentice?: Mick had a secret relationship with Cat before she went missing.
What else has Mark Rowley been in?: Mark is best known for appearing in The Last Kingdom as Finn. He's also been in Netflix's One Day, BBC's Rogue Heroes and the movie The Eye.
Kat Ronney as Bonnie
Who is Bonnie?: Bonnie is Cat's best friend who witness her abduction.
What else has Kat Ronney been in?: Kat is best known for appearing in the series Dinosaur, and also had appearances in Casualty and McDonald & Dodds.
Karen Pirie season 2 is available on ITV1 and ITVX
