Meet the cast of ITV's Dark Heart
Tom Riley, Charlotte Riley and Bodyguard's Anjli Mahindra lead the new drama from Unforgotten writer Chris Lang
Dark Heart, the ITV drama which first aired as a feature-length pilot in 2016, is back as a six-episode series.
It follows the travails of DI Will Wagstaffe, a troubled, London-based detective who watched his own parents get murdered when he was 16. The series comes from Chris Lang, creator of Unforgotten and Innocent.
Find out everything you need to know about the cast of Dark Heart below...
Tom Riley plays DI Will Wagstaffe
Who is Will Wagstaffe? A detective who is haunted by the memory of seeing his parents get murdered when he was 16.
"Will Wagstaffe is such an interesting, messed-up guy," Riley says. "He is fundamentally flawed and unable to maintain solid relationships anywhere in his life. But the one thing he is good at is police work, that is if he’s not letting his own emotions cloud his judgement."
More like this
Where have I seen Tom Riley before? He starred as Charlie in last year's Ill Behaviour, played Robin Hood in the Doctor Who episode Robot of Sherwood in 2014 and most recently appeared alongside Michael Pena in Netflix film Extinction.
Charlotte Riley plays Juliette Wagstaffe
Who is Juliette Wagstaffe? Will's sister. According to Riley, they have a rather strained relationship. "He really winds her up and she finds him difficult to deal with," she says. "They have very different approaches to life. She has a son, a family of her own. Whereas he doesn’t have any commitments like that. Essentially, he is wedded to his work."
Where have I seen Charlotte Riley before? She starred alongside husband Tom Hardy in Wuthering Heights in 2009, and has since played Holly In Press, Robina in Trust, and May Carleton in Peaky Blinders.
Are Tom Riley and Charlotte Riley related? No. Despite sharing the same surname, the pair do not belong to the same family.
Anjli Mahindra plays DC Josie Chancellor
Who is Josie Chancellor? A passionate police officer who works under DCI Wagstaffe.
"She wants to show that she’s just as good as everybody else," Mahindra says. "As the police force can be very male dominated she feels that she needs to go that extra mile to be heard or taken seriously."
Where have I seen Anjli Mahindra before? She played Nadia in Jed Mercurio's Bodyguard, and has also starred in The Boy with the Topknot, Bancroft, The Bisexual and miniseries Cucumber.
Miranda Raison plays Sylvie
Who is Sylvie? Wagstaffe's on-again-off-again girlfriend.
"Sylvie is a bit of a mystery at first," Raison says. "You find out there’s a history between her and Will Wagstaffe, but they are not exactly a couple. They have been involved, they fancy each other very much but he has quite a lot of issues which are hard to get past."
Where have I seen Miranda Raison before? She played Vanessa in My Week with Marilyn, and has also starred in Match Point, Silk and 24: Live Another Day.
Joseph Teague plays Juliette's son Harry
Who is Harry? Juliette Wagstaffe's son, and Will's nephew. He doesn't know his father and sees Will as a father-figure. In the first couple of episodes he's pretty young, but he's grown up dramatically by episode 3 (thanks to the gap between filming)
Where have I seen Joseph Teague before? This is his first screen appearance. He's actually the son of director Colin Teague.
"He's Colin's son so that's fun, seeing that dynamic on set and how he works with his dad," Charlotte Riley says. "It's lovely to see somebody at the beginning of their career, and that was his first job and then he ended up coming back two and a half years later and he's changed from a ten-year-old into a thirteen-year-old teenager."
Paul Kaye plays Jim Duggan
Who is Jim Duggan? A wealthy (but kind of seedy) businessman and strip club owner.
Where have I seen Paul Kaye before? Paul Kaye is one of the big-name guest stars in Dark Heart. He's appeared as Thoros of Myr in Game of Thrones, Jim Winshaw in Three Girls, and Lawrence in Wanderlust – but first rose to fame playing Dennis Pennis on The Sunday Show.
Jacob Avery plays Ed Denslow
Who is Ed Denslow? A teenage boy obsessed with porn, who spends his nights spying on porn stars with his camcorder.
Where have I seen Jacob Avery before? Avery's credits include Millie Inbetween, The Rebel, Holby City and The Inspector Lynley Mysteries. If his face looks familiar, that may be because he also stars in the Twirl adverts.
Indra Ove plays Kerry Davies
Who is Kerry Davies? The business partner of the murdered woman. She is also involved in the porn industry.
Where have I seen Indra Ove before? The actress starred in the latest series of Unforgotten, playing Maria Carr. She has also been in Marcella, The New Worst Witch, and Resident Evil.
Charles Lawson plays Father Connolly
Who is Father Connolly? The priest at the Catholic church, who discovers the murder victim's body.
Where have I seen Charles Lawson before? The Northern Irish actor plays Jim McDonald in Coronation Street, and also recently appeared as Doctor Black in BBC drama My Mother and Other Strangers.
Edward Akrout plays Paolo
Who is Paolo? Juliette's abusive boyfriend, who is not in Wagstaffe's good books (to say the least). He runs a bar in London.
Where have I seen Edward Akrout before? He had a brief guest-starring role in Killing Eve, playing Diego who leads Villanelle on an ill-fated mission, and has also featured in Strangers, Gypsy, Mr Selfridge and Genius.
Gregg Chillin plays pathologist Luke Paul
Who is Dr Luke Paul? A talented pathologist.
Where have I seen Gregg Chillin before? The excellently-named actor plays Dominico Michele in A Discovery of Witches, Zoroaster in Da Vinci's Demons, and Neil Simpson in Scott & Bailey. Fun fact: he also provided the voice of Ron Weasley in several Harry Potter video games.
Michele Austin plays Annie Webb
Who is Annie Webb? A highly-experienced member of Staffe's team. Unlike him and Josie, she doesn't let the job consume her.
Where have I seen Michele Austin before? You may recognise her as PC Yvonne Hemmingway from The Bill. More recently she's appeared in The Children Act, The Casual Vacancy and EastEnders.
Jason Maza plays Rob Mullan
Who is Rob Mullan? A policeman on Staffe's team.
Where have I seen Jason Maza before? You may have spotted him in Bulletproof, episodes of Silent Witness and Call the Midwife, Touch of Frost, and Silk. Maza is also a producer and a theatre actor.
Andreea Paduraru plays Sofie
Who is Sofie? A much-loved hospital nurse who mysteriously dies on her way home, on an empty tube platform.
Where have I seen Andreea Paduraru before? She's made brief appearances in Luther, Damned, and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Claire Goose plays Phoebe Kyrkiacou
Who is Phoebe Kyrkiacou? The wife of a murder victim.
Where have I seen Claire Goose before? She played a key role in the first episode of Unforgotten, as Ellie Greaves, and in The Coroner as Jane Kennedy. Her other shows include Mount Pleasant, Stan Lee's Lucky Man, Waking the Dead and The Bill.
Clare Foster plays Alexandra Panousis
Who is Alexandra Panousis? Phoebe's sister.
Where have I seen Clare Foster before? A decade ago she played PC Millie Brown in The Bill. Since then she's appeared as Roberta Galavant, and played Nancy Lewis in an episode of The Crown.
Doug Rao plays Chris Panousis
Who is Chris Panousis? Alexandra's husband. He was also friends with the murder victim, who was his brother-in-law.
Where have I seen Doug Rao before? The actor's credits include The Bill, Ransom, Casualty and Doctors.
Kobna Holdbrook-Smith plays DS Dave Pulford
Who is DS Dave Pulford? A member of Staffe's team.
Where have I seen Kobna Holdbrook-Smith before? Holdbrook-Smith has starred in The Split, Sirens, Mike Bassett: Manager and has had minor roles in blockbusters such as Paddington 2 and Doctor Strange.
Tom Brooke plays DS Rick Johnson
Who is Rick Johnson? Wagstaffe's police colleague in episodes one and two.
Where have I seen Tom Brooke before? He played ex-soldier Andy in Bodyguard, Fiore in Preacher and Wiggins in Sherlock.
Dark Heart airs on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9pm on ITV
