Karen Pirie spoilers, pictures and cast list: Episode One

Adapted by Emer Kenny (Harlots, Save Me Too) who will also take the role of Karen’s friend River Wilde, Karen Pirie also stars Chris Jenks (Sex Education) as Jason ‘The Mint’ Murray and Zach Wyatt (Blithe Spirit) as DS Phil Parhatka.

The series is based on Val McDermid’s first Karen Pirie novel The Distant Echo, and in the first episode Karen is tasked with reopening an historic murder investigation that has been the subject of a provocative true crime podcast.

Brand new drama Karen Pirie
Coming this Sunday at 8pm to ITV and ITV Hub pic.twitter.com/mctTM95KNv
— ITV (@ITV) September 23, 2022

In St Andrews, three drunken students are discovered at the scene of a murder. Young barmaid Rosie Duff has been assaulted, stabbed and left for dead. And the only suspects are the three young men now stained with her blood, claiming to have stumbled across her on the way home from a party. Twenty-five years later, Rosie’s unsolved murder has become the subject of a provocative true crime podcast and Detective Sergeant Karen Pirie is put in charge of the cold case review. But as complications within the investigation grow, it becomes increasingly apparent that Rosie harboured a long-held family secret that could potentially unlock the mysteries surrounding the case. When new evidence emerges implicating one of the students, Karen hunts down the suspect to get their version of the story.