Everything we know about ITV’s Karen Pirie

What is Karen Pirie about? 

Adapted from Val McDermid’s novel by Emer Kenny (Harlots, Save Me Too), the new drama stays true to McDermid’s iconic DS Karen Pirie: a young, fearless Scottish investigator with “a quick mouth and tenacious desire for the truth.”  

So far, we know that DS Karen Pirie has been tasked with reopening a cold case from 25-years previously after the case becomes the subject of a provocative true crime podcast.  

The case explores the shocking murder of teenage Rosie Duff (Anna Russell-Martin, Casualty) in St Andrews back in 1996. The drunken students were the main suspects after they claimed to find her body, but no charges were ever brought against the three due to a lack of forensic evidence and the case ran cold.  

However, with new attention being brought to the unsolved case following its coverage on a true crime podcast, new evidence begins to emerge hinting at secrets surrounding the victim that could finally crack the case.  

Watch the official trailer for a sneak peek at Karen Pirie: 

The cast of Karen Pirie

• Outlander star Lauren Lyle leads as the iconic detective herself.  

• Emer Kenny (Harlots, Save Me Too) not only adapted the novel for television, but also takes on the role of DS Pirie’s friend River Wilde.  

• Zach Wyatt (Blithe Spirit) as DS Phil Parhatka 

• Chris Jenks (Sex Education) stars as Jason ‘The Mint’ Murray 

• Jhon Lumsden (Pancake) as Sigmund ‘Ziggy’ Malkiewicz  

• Jack Hesketh (Besa) as Tom ‘Weird’ Mackie  

• Buom Tihngang (Death In Paradise) as Alex Gilbey  

Many Val McDermid fans will be attached to the novel version of Karen Pirie, but thankfully it sounds like the television version of the detective won’t be a far cry from what they’re used to, Lauren Lyle saying “The dry wit and her attitude of not giving a damn are exactly the same as in the books.” 

There was also a lot of discussion on the look and attitude of the character, with Lyle going on to say:  

“We discussed [her image] a lot, because her image is described in detail in the books, and I don’t quite look like that version of the character. […] I had quite a strong image of what I wanted her to look like – this modern woman appearing to be a bit androgynous and trying to level up the men. I think she’s got the image in her head of what she should look like to fit in around a lot of men, but by doing that she completely isolates herself into being quite an independent looking person, who looks cool without meaning to. And she doesn’t wear any make-up, I insisted on that, not even mascara, because she just wouldn’t bother. That’s really refreshing as well, it’s really nice to do something as a woman where you don’t feel you have to look pretty.” 

In fact, it was the lead character of Karen that appealed to Emer Kenny when it came to adapting the novel:  

“What essentially drew me to the project was this character, Karen. She’s a young woman in a male-dominated environment, who is really underestimated, and I think I related to that. I’ve felt like that at times in my own job, so I wanted to channel my personal experiences and frustrations into Karen. She has a daunting prospect ahead of her, in that this is the first time she has an opportunity to work on a big crime that nobody thinks is possible to solve, and I feel like I also had quite a daunting prospect ahead of me, trying to crack these books and bring them to the screen for the first time! I had never written a whole series before, so I really related to her in that way, and we’re about the same age too. If you can relate to the material, then you’ll bring something of yourself to it and your authentic approach should mean the audience will relate to it too.” 

Karen Pirie isn’t the first Val McDermind heroine to be brought to the screen. The similarly dry-witted detective Vera has been running for 11 seasons now (and counting), but Karen Pirie looks like it will be a fresh take on the strong, no-nonsense female detective we’ve come to know and love.

Where was Karen Pirie filmed? 

Naturally, given the books are based in Scotland, almost all of the filming for Karen Pirie took place in Scotland, including St Andrews and Glasgow. On filming in Scotland, Lauren Lyle said,  

“It’s beautiful having the series set in Scotland, some of the landscapes we have are phenomenal, up in Loch Lomond and in the mountains. A friend of mine has watched some of the series and kept asking if we’d used CGI. I kept saying, “No, that’s just Scotland!”.  

How to watch Karen Pirie 

Watch Karen Pirie on ITV and ITVX on Sundays at 8pm from Sunday 25th September. There will be three two-hour long episodes to tune in for – perfect Sunday night telly!