Lauren Lyle is back as Karen Pirie, our favourite bumbag-wearing diminutive detective, for series 2 – alongside the core cast from Karen Pirie series 1 and some terrific additions for this latest story.

Let’s remind ourselves who’s who in the ITV crime drama, based on the works of queen of tartan noir Val McDermid. And take a look at which stars of the British small screen made the cut for the second adaptation.

Karen Pirie series 2 episode 1 main cast

Lauren Lyle as Karen Pirie

Watching Lauren Lyle perform Karen Pirie with such confidence and energy, it’s amazing to realise she’s had never been the lead in a show before.

In fact, her biggest roles previously were in Vigil series one, as Jade Antoniak, a peace protester who drowned (2021). She was also headstrong Marsali MacKimmie, Jamie Fraser’s step-daughter and wife of French pickpocket Fergus Fraser, in four seasons (25 episodes) of bonking-obsessed time travel fantasy Outlander.

More recently, she also has a major role in the BBC’s The Bombing of Pan Am 103 (2025) as June McCusker, the wife of Ed McCusker (Connor Swindells), the cop investigating the air crash.

As a character, Karen is blunt and direct. She’s not overly concerned about how people perceive her, which sometimes gets her into trouble.

“Even though she’s been promoted, she’s still doubted,” says Lauren of Karen Pirie in series two. “It’s a reluctant promotion, where her boss says: ‘You’re difficult, definitely rude, a nightmare to deal with, but you’re great, so you deserve it.’ That’s what drives her because she knows she’s brilliant.

“Karen also gets these epic, high-stakes moments – big arrests, chase sequences, and dramatic reveals. It’s rare to get to do all that in one role and, as an actor, it’s the dream.”

Chris Jenks as DC Jason Murray aka Mint

DC Murray, or “Mint” as he’s nicknamed (after Murray Mints, geddit?) is a young, college-educated copper with advertising-sales-rep dress sense. He’s the product of the lads-dominated environment. But Mint’s a nice guy at heart, and isn’t taken aback when his casual sexism is called out.

A fitness fanatic known to use an office workout to clear his mind (and with the “department record in the bleep test”), he’s not the sharpest tool in the box. But maybe all he needs is some sharpening. In series 1 Karen started off confining him to office duties and research, but slowly realised that there may be a decent, enquiring brain under there after all.

Where have you seen Mint actor Chris Jenks before? Probably in Sex Education, where he played, Steve – Aimee’s boyfriend and Maeve’s Quiz Head fellow team member – through the first three seasons of Netflix’s youth drama (2019-2021). More recently you might have caught him in four episodes of the BBC’s Beyond Paradise, playing young copper Kelby’s petty-thieving nemesis Josh Woods (2023-2025) – yeah, the guy Kelby seems to keep chasing through town on foot.

In series two of Karen Pirie Mint spends a lot of time partnered with a new member of the team, DC Isla Stark, played by Saskia Ashdown (see below).

“Because she plays the character so deadpan, that gave me a fun dynamic to play off,” says Chris. “Mint never really knows what to make of
her. There was a lot of tension in our scenes that was fun to explore. ‘Are they flirting? No, I don’t think so. Okay, well, they kind of get on. Then again, they kind of don’t.’ It was just really fun exploring these dynamics.”

Karen Pirie series 2 episode 2 cast: DS Phil Parhatka, played by Zach Wyatt

Easy-going Phil is Karen’s partner in both senses of the word. He’s the ambitious copper she works alongside and also her boyfriend. But mixing work and pleasure was a rocky path to navigate, as they discovered in series 1.

Zach Wyatt previously played Jimi Hendrix in Sky Arts’ Urban Myths episode Hendrix & Handel (2020) and the elven mage Syndril in four episodes of The Witcher’s prequel series The Witcher: Blood Origin (2022).

“This series shows a lighter side of Phil,” says Zach. “We see more of his compassion and gentleness, and he leans into his moral values even more – both in his work and his personal life.”

River Wilde, played by Emer Kenny

Although not clear in series one – where she just seems to be Karen’s level-headed friend and confidant who seems to work in CSI to some capacity – River is actually a professor of forensic anthropology and archaeology.

River is played by another former EastEnders star, Emer Kenny, who also writes Karen Pirie. On the Walford soap she played Zsa Zsa Carter, the blue-highlighted, rebellious daughter of Tina Carter, for 59 episodes in 2010 (having first appeared in the internet spin-off EastEnders: E20). This led to her later writing 36 episodes of the soap.

Emer also spent a memorable stint on Father Brown, as the investigating priest’s jolly-hockey-sticks sidekick Bunty in seasons 5 to 9 (2017-2022). Another of her long-running roles was as Danielle in the BBC sitcom Pramface (2012-2014).

“It was really nice to have River engaging with different parts of the story, not just being in Karen’s flat as her friend,” says Emer of River in series two. “It was fun to be out and about as River in more of a professional capacity – but my favourite moments will always be whenever me and Lauren get to be funny or play the friendship.”

Steve John Shepherd is DI Simon Lees

Karen’s boss is the surly DI Simon Lees, a man who’s clearly trying to be a modern cop, while probably streaming Life On Mars thinking, “Ah, those were the days!” He memorably dismisses Bel’s podcast with the line: “This is what passes for journalism, now, is it? A sultry voice and a bit of a jingle.”

Lees is played by yet another former resident of Albert Square, Steve John Shepherd. He played cocky, slimy gym club owner Michael Moon in EastEnders from 2010 until 2013, when he was stabbed to death by Janine.

Since then you may gave caught him guest starring in Silent Witness (2017), children’s series Hetty Feather (2019), London Kills (2019), Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators (2020) and Agatha Raisin (2020).

Bel Richmond, played by Rakhee Thakrar

Bel was an investigative journalist in Val McDermid’s Karen Pirie book series, and not introduced until the second book. In the first series of Karen Pirie she was reinvented as the presenter of a true crime podcast, while in series two her fame / notoriety has grown and she’s now a TV reporter. She’s massively confident in her own abilities, often forcing Karen into an uneasy truce so they can work together.

Rakhee Thakrar is best known as the second actress to play Shabnam Masood (later Shabnam Kazemi) on EastEnders for three years from 2014-2016 (she had a secret daughter, Jade, with Dean Wicks).

She also played English teacher Emily Sands through all four seasons of Netfllx’s Sex Education (2019-2023) and recently guest starred in a couple of episodes of Man Like Mobeen (2025) as Uncle Shady’s daughter Leila.

“It’s almost like Bel is spitefully flirting with Karen,” says Lauren Lyle of Karen Pirie’s working relationship with Bel in series two. “There’s this love-hate dynamic – they need each other but don’t want to admit it. Bel constantly frustrates Karen, but she knows she has to play along.”

New ongoing character for Karen Pirie series 2

Saskia Ashdown makes her debut as DC Isla Stark

When Karen’s boss DI Simon Lees tells her to assemble a team to tackle this new case in series two, he personally leans on her to find a place for DC Isla Stark. Lees bigs up Isla to Karen, claiming the DC is a huge fan, but Isla herself just seems desperate for a job anywhere other than the e-crimes division.

Stark has a dour demeanour and says what she thinks, but she also has a keen investigative mind that Karen soon finds very helpful on the case. She’s also loyal and more than capable of cutting through office politics.

Isla is played by Saskia Ashdown, who you may have seen recently in season two of Prime Video’s sci-fi thriller The Rig (2025). Saskia played Danielle, the loyal assistant of CEO of Pictor Energy CEO Morgan Lennox (Alice Krige).

Before that, in 2023, she played Bryony Davis, part of the Scottish Justice Minister’s team in the acclaimed ITV four-part thriller Six Four (which also featured her Karen Pirie co-star James Cosmo). She’s also made appearances in shows such as the BBC medical drama Trust Me (series two, 2019), Casualty (2021) and Annika (2021).

Major guest stars for Karen Pirie series 2 cast – present day storyline

Nightsleeper’s James Cosmo guest stars as the older Sir Broderick Grant

Veteran actor James Cosmo plays the older Sir Broderick Grant, aka Brodie, in the present-day storyline. He’s a stupendously wealthy oil magnate (or “Fat cat, climate-destroying oil magnate” as Karen puts it – she’s not a fan) whose daughter, Cat, and grandson, Adam, were kidnapped back in 1984, never to be seen again. The failure of the police at that time to recover Cat and Adam has left him with a deep distrust of coppers.

Unless you’ve never owned a TV, it would be almost impossible not to have seen film and TV star James Cosmo in something before. With screen credits stretching back to 1966, he’s appeared in such films as Highlander (1986), as Duncan MacLeod’s cousin Angus; Braveheart (1995) as Campbell; Troy (2004) as Glaucus (“Soldiers of Troy! You men are warriors! To lead you has been my honour!”); and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) as Father Christmas.

On TV, he’s probably best remembered as Jeor Mormont, 997th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch in Game of Thrones (2011-2013). More recently, in  2024, he starred as Fraser Warren, one of the passengers trapped on a rogue train, in the BBC thriller Nightsleeper. Other major TV roles include Father Kellan Ashby in Sons of Anarchy (2010), Silent Witness (2012), Shetland (2016), SS-GB (2017), His Dark Materials (2019) and Six Four (2023), not to mention a rare foray into sitcoms with the John Cleese/Alison Steadman/Jason Watkins-starring Hold The Sunset (2018-2019) – we bet you’d forgotten that one!

Unforgotten’s Frances Tomelty appears as the older Mary Grant

The former Mrs Sting (yes, really, she married him pre-Police fame and before he went all Tantric with Trudie Styler) plays the older Mary Grant in the present day storyline. She is Cat’s mother and Adam’s grandmother, but is no longer with Sir Brodie, though they are still in constant contact.

Frances Tomelty, who plays Mary Grant, played the scary Sister Eileen, Mother Superior at the Kilkinure laundry, in the BBC’s harrowing drama The Woman in the Wall (2023), about the infamous Magdalene Laundries in pre-partition Ireland, where thousands of “fallen women” were forced to live and work in abhorrent conditions.

She also had a memorable stint in the very first series of ITV crime drama Unforgotten (2015), playing Maureen Sullivan, mother of the murdered Jimmy. Other TV credits include Inspector Morse (1988), Bergerac (1989), Cracker (1993), Bonekickers (2008), Waking The Dead (2011), The White Queen (2013), Peaky Blinders (2016, as the romany woman Thomas Shelby seeks out to find out if the sapphire he gave to Grace was indeed cursed), Warrior Nun (2020) and The Nevers (2023).

Major guest stars for Karen Pirie series 2 cast – 1984 storyline

Julia Brown guest stars as the abducted Catriona Grant

Catriona Grant is heiress to the Grant oil empire, but you wouldn’t guess that if you met her by accident. She prefers to hide her privilege, drink in rough pubs and eat in chippies. She has a baby son, Adam, but she and the father, Fergus, are not together. And then she – and Adam – become kidnap victims. The suspects? A group who claim to be Scottish anarchists.

Julia Brown, who had a major role recently as factory worker-turned-forces entertainer and ambulance driver in the BBC’s ambitious World War II drama World on Fire last year, plays Catriona. She also had a recurring role in two series of Shetland (debuting in the fourth and returning for the sixth) as the teenage Molly Kilmuir.

She also starred in the seventh and final series of the BBC’s children’s spy show MI High back in 2014.

One Day’s Mark Rowley is Mick Prentice

Mick Prentice is a part-time bouncer, whose marriage is on the rocks. He’s also mates with Kevin Campbell, the man who kidnapped Cat and Adam. But how does Mick fit into the puzzle?

Mark Rowley, whose face has become very familiar on screen in the last few years, plays Mick. Most recently he played the mightily-moustached Corporal Jock McDiarmid in the second series of SAS: Rogue Heroes (2025) but you may also have seen him as fierce Irish warrior Finan the Agile in series 2-6 of The Last Warrior (2017-2022).

He was also Alexander Stewart, Duke of Ross in five episodes of The Spanish Princess (2020) and Phil Godalming in Netflix’s One Day (2024).

Dinosaur’s Kat Ronney plays the younger Bonnie

Bonnie is Cat’s best friend, and her escape from the Grant clan. Bonnie is there the night Cat and Adam’s kidnap takes place.

Kat Ronnie, who also currently stars in the BBC Three sitcom Dinosaur as Evie MacArthur, plays Bonnie. She is the sister of the autistic palaeontologist main character, Nina MacArthur (Ashley Storrie). It debuted in 2024 and will be back for a second series.

She was also a guest star in McDonald & Dodds (2021) and Casualty (2023).

The Winter King’s Stuart Campbell guests stars as Kevin Campbell

Stuart Campbell is a lad with a string of offences – assault, possession. He is an associate of the Lennox crime family, who are Glasgow drug traffickers.

Kevin Campbell portrays Stuart Campbell, another member of the SAS: Rogue Heroes cast. He played the Second Lieutenant (promoted to Captain in series two) Bill Fraser, the jovial Scot who often butts heads with Lieutenant Jock Lewes, because he thinks Lewes’ plans don’t always take into account the safety of his men.

Stuart also played the left-for-dead orphan rescued by King Arthur to grow up a warrior with the mightiest mullet of the Dark Ages in ITV’s The Winter King (2023). He was also a regular in series three to six of the CBBC Victorian-set drama Hetty Feather as Jack (2017-2020) and had guest appearances in Outlander (2017), London Kills (2019), Baptiste (2021), Professor T (2022) and Shetland (2024) – in which he was the jittery youngster holding a gun to Ruth (Ashley Jensen) in the superb cold opening to series nine.

Jamie Michie plays the young Brodie Grant

Jamie plays the younger incarnation of the oil magnate Grant. He played the sceptical cop in the first episode of Baby Reindeer, when Donny goes to the police station to report Martha’s sexual harassment.

He was also House Bolton’s man-at-arms Steelshanks Walton in season three of Game of Thrones (2013), Dom in the Daisy Haggard post-prison-sentence sitcom Back To Life (2019-2021) and Pubba McGoldrick in Chris O’Dowd’s bizarre sci-fi comedy drama for Sky, Small Town, Big Story (2025).

Who else is in the cast of Karen Pirie series 2, episode 1?

Yes, there’s more! Stewart Porter plays Ryan Campbell, Kevin’s elder brother, appeared in Scottish soap River City as two different multi-episode characters, traveller Duncan Bucknell (2015) and cheeky ex-con Dougie Paterson (2017-2021). He was also Sgt Billy McBride in Shetland series two (2014) – briefly replacing Lewis Howden who’s played Billy in every other series.

Then there’s Thoren Ferguson who plays DI Anderson, the copper running the investigation in 1984. Ferguson appeared as Malcolm Fox in six episodes of the BBC’s recent Rebus reboot (2024) and had a stint on Emmerdale as a Lothario fitness instructor Kit (2022).

Jack Stewart, who appears as Fergus Sinclair (Cat’s ex, Adam‘s father) in the 1984 flashbacks played swimming pool lifeguard in BBC Three’s lesbian coming-of-age “microdrama” (ie, very short episodes). He was also in Float (2021-2024) and was also a guest in Payback (2023), Casualty (2021) and Outlander (2020)

Seylan Baxterm, who appears as the present day version of Cat’s friend Bonnie, appeared in both seasons of Apple+’s The Buccaneers as Mrs Gilmour (2023-2025) and three episodes of Belgravia: The Next Chapter as Madame Fourcade (2024).

The full cast for Karen Pirie, series 2, episode 1

Lauren Lyle stars as DI Karen Pirie
Chris Jenks co-stars as DC Jason Murray
Zach Wyatt is back as DS Phil Parhatka
Emer Kenny plays River Wilde
Saskia Ashdown debuts in the role of DC Isla Stark
Rakhee Thakrar appears Bel Richmond
Steve John Shepherd returns as DCS Simon Lees
Julia Brown guest stars as Catriona Grant

Kat Ronnie plays Bonnie Jnr
Stuart Campbell is Kevin Campbell
Jamie Michie portrays Brodie Grant Jnr
Thoren Ferguson appears as DI Anderson
Ashleigh Trainer plays Susan Jnr
Madeleine Worrall is Mary Grant Jnr
Gillian Apter appears as Susan Snr
James Cosmo guest stars as Brodie Grant Snr
Helen Katamba is WDC Laurel Blair
Jack Stewart plays Fergus Sinclair Jnr
Frances Tomelty portrays Mary Grant Snr
Adam Young has a memorable cameo as Toby Inglis
Seylan Baxter plays Bonnie Snr
William Alexander appears as Angus
Mark Rowley is Mick Prentice Jnr
Beth Marshall portrays Angie Barclay Snr
Conor Berry is Andy Kerr
Wendy Seager acts as Fiona Campbell
Emma Cameron is News Presenter
Stewart Porter appears as Ryan Campbell
Craig McGinlay plays the role of Glen Gibson
Alex & Andrew Gilmour both play Adam Grant
Emma Bell is Girl in Queue

You can watch Karen Pirie series one on ITVX now. Karen Pirie series two premiers on ITV1 and ITVX on Sunday, July 20