ITV has just unveiled its autumn schedule and there are some unmissable new drama series on the way.
There’s a host of famous faces including Aidan Turner, Adrian Dunbar and Ben Miller taking on some exciting new roles, so get ready to put your feet up and cancel all social plans.
The Suspect
Read more: ITV’s The Suspect – When does it start and who’s in the cast alongside Aidan Turner?
Aidan Turner (of Poldark fame) returns to the small screen in The Suspect, directed by Vigil and Broadchurch‘s James Strong.
Turner stars as Dr Joe O’Loughlin who, on the surface, has a picture perfect life. You know the drill: devoted wife: loving daughter: successful career as a clinical psychologist.
Not to mention his publishing deal and high media profile.
Joe even becomes an online hero after saving a patient ready to jump off of the tenth floor of the hospital where he works.
But – there’s always a but – when a young woman’s body is found in a shallow grave, Joe gets dragged into the police investigation surrounding her death.
Needless to say, this isn’t his usual bag, but he’s willing to offer his expertise.
Questions are soon posed however as Joe isn’t quite everything he appears to be and is hiding a devastating diagnosis.
Does Joe have more to hide? Spoiler – yes.
Ridley
ITV’s new detective drama stars Line of Duty‘s Adrian Dunbar as retired detective Alex Ridley.
Despite hanging up his detective hat and looking forward to life in the slow lane, Ridley is called upon by his former protegee, DI Carol Farman (The Fall’s Bronagh Waugh) who has replaced him.
She wants him to act as a police consultant on a complicated and compelling murder case, which he agrees to.
Obviously, it’s not long before the investigation takes a dark and unexpected turn and Farman turns to Ridley for support.
Ridley consists of four feature-length episodes which were filmed across Northern England.
Soap fans will be delighted to see former Coronation Street star, Bhavna Limbachia (Rana Nazir) as a show regular.
Karen Pirie
Another murder drama, this time a cold case. Karen Pirie is based on the acclaimed novel The Distant Echo by Val McDermid.
And it comes from the producers of Line of Duty.
Vigil actor Lauren Lyle will star as iconic character DI Karen Pirie.
She’s billed as a ‘young and fearless Scottish investigator with a quick mouth and tenacious desire for the truth’.
Emer Kenny – known for Harlots, Save Me Too and EastEnders – adapted the script and will also star as Pirie’s friend, River Wilde.
In the first episode Karen is seen reopening an historic murder investigation that has been the subject of a provocative true crime podcast.
Read more: Adrian Dunbar to star in new ITV drama Ridley as a retired cop
Teenager Rosie Duff (Anna Russell-Martin, Casualty) was brutally murdered in the Scottish university town of St Andrews in 1996.
Suspicion fell on the three drunken students, claiming to have found her body; Sigmund ‘Ziggy’ Malkiewicz (Jhon Lumsden, Pancake) Tom ‘Weird’ Mackie (Jack Hesketh, Besa) and Alex Gilbey (Buom Tihngang, Death In Paradise).
But with a lack of forensic evidence, no charges were brought and the police investigation floundered.
Some 25 years on, someone appears to be willing to risk everything to keep the secrets surrounding the case hidden. Do the three men know more than they previously revealed? How flawed was the original investigation? And can Karen uncover the truth of what happened to Rosie that fateful night?
There’s also some great returning dramas including Ben Miller in Professor T, Bradley Walsh in The Larkins and the very last series of Doc Martin, starring Martin Clunes.
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