Karen Pirie season 2's explosive trailer sees Lauren Lyle investigate a kidnapping
The stakes are higher than ever.
Gripping crime drama Karen Pirie returns this month, and viewers can now get a taste of what to expect from season 2 thanks to an exclusive trailer for RadioTimes.com.
Debuting back in 2022, the first run of the Lauren Lyle-led series proved a hit with viewers, who were hooked on every twist and turn as the detective sergeant reopened a historic murder investigation.
Now, Karen has been promoted to detective inspector, with the stakes higher than ever as another puzzling, infamous case lands on her desk.
As well as navigating the tough task of investigating the crime, our lead character has to contend with mounting pressure from her boss, the media and "sinister forces that would rather the past stayed in the past", according to the synopsis.
And based on this exclusive first-look clip, it’s easy to see why this case is causing such a stir, with one character describing it as "one of the biggest missing person cases in this country’s history" – you can watch the trailer at the top of this page.
Revealing more about what Karen is up against in season 2, the official synopsis continues: "The 1984 case of Catriona and Adam Grant has confounded investigators and intrigued the public like no other.
"Catriona (Julia Brown), the charming young heiress to a vast oil fortune, and her two-year-old son Adam were brutally kidnapped at gunpoint outside a fish and chip shop in Fife.
"The ransom notes that followed stirred up an uncontrollable press storm, but when the culprits fell silent, the police faltered, and Catriona and Adam were never seen again.
"Now, a man’s body has been discovered, with indisputable links to the original kidnap. With the first piece of evidence in decades, Karen must assemble an unbeatable team alongside her sincere and loveable sidekick DC Jason ‘Mint’ Murray (Chris Jenks) and the brilliant – but romantically complicated – DS Phil Parhatka (Zach Wyatt).
"With the international renown of the kidnap and the constant pressure from Catriona’s father, Sir Broderick Grant (James Cosmo), the team take on the biggest challenge of their careers to date.
"As Karen delves deeper into what happened in the autumn of 1984, political grudges and painful secrets reveal themselves, and it soon becomes clear… the past is far from dead."
Intense stuff!
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The ITV show is adapted from a series of novels by Val McDermid, with this season based on A Darker Domain, and writer Emer Kenny will once again transfer the story to screen – as well as starring in the programme herself.
New cast members joining the show for season 2 include Saskia Ashdown, Frances Tomelty, John Michie, Mark Rowley, James Fleet and Julia Brown, with the producers behind Line of Duty returning to bring this pulse-racing series back to screens later this month.
Karen Pirie season 2 will air this summer on ITV1 and ITVX.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
George White is a Sub-Editor for Radio Times. He was previously a reporter for the Derby Telegraph and was the editor of LeftLion magazine. As well as receiving an MA in Magazine Journalism, he completed a BA in Politics and International Relations.
