Karen Pirie star on pressures of hit Scottish crime drama

The Herald Scotland

15-07-2025

When ITV drama returns on July 20, nearly three years after the first series aired, the stakes are even higher for Lyle and Pirie.
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Pirie has been promoted to detective inspector and is responsible for an expanded team in a new adaptation of crime writer Val McDermid's best-selling series focusing on the character.
In the new series, Pirie is thrust into a reopened investigation into an unsolved mystery involving one of Scotland's richest oil tycoons, played by veteran Scottish actor James Cosmo.
Lauren Lyle plays recently-promoted detective inspector Karen Pirie in the ITV drama series. (Image: Mark Mainz)
The case will take Pirie and her team back 40 years to the kidnapping oil heiress Catriona Grant and her son Adam outside a fish and chip shop in Fife, but are never seen again despite the sending of two chilling ransom notes.
Meanwhile he is still struggling to win acceptance into what Lyle describes as 'the boys' club' within her police force, is unwilling to let her superiors know she has been in a relationship with a colleague for more than two years and seems prepared to bend the rules at work even more than before.
Zach Wyatt and Lauren Lyle star in Karen Pirie. (Image: Mark Mainz)
Although she had previously starred in Outlander and Vigil, Karen Pirie was the most high-profile role to date for Glasgow-born Lyle.
Despite winning two BAFTA Scotland awards for her performance in that first series, which aired nearly three years ago, Lyle admitted she was 'worried' about returning to the role in the new series which was filmed across Scotland and also moves to Malta for an action-packed finale.
James Cosmo stars in the new series of Karen Pirie. (Image: Mark Mainz)
Taggart star John Michie is among the other special guests appearing in the new series, which sees the return of Zach Wyatt as detective sergeant Phil Parhataka, who is also Pirie's boyfriend, her series one sidekick, detective constable Jason 'Mint' Murray, played by Chris Jenks, and newcomer detective constable Isla Stark, played by Saskia Ashdown.
Lyle said: 'Karen has a lot more power in this series. She is semi-in charge of everyone, which is really funny to play because she's so young.
Saskia Ashdown, Lauren Lyle and Chris Jenks headed to Malta for filming part of the new series of Karen Pirie. (Image: Mark Mainz)
'There's this very funny balance we've got to try and strike where she is very good at her job, she is reliable and she gets results, but with very obscure methods. The bosses sort of hate that they have to deal with that.
'She is thrust into a huge case in this series and has a much bigger team, so it's a big step up for her.
'She does feel the pressure more. But she has got a bit more armour this time and is less afraid to break the rules than maybe she was the last time.
'There are definitely times in this series when she breaks the rules to get what she needs. I think she just thinks: 'Well, that works. Why would I not do that?'
'It feels like way more happens in this season. Every episode has way more hooks. A lot more people die and there are a lot more suspects.'
Lyle got her TV breakthrough when she landed the recurring role of Marsali in time travel fantasy Outlander and went to appear in four episodes of the submarine thriller Vigil, starring alongside Suranne Jones, Rose Leslie, Martin Compston and Gary Lewis.
Lyle said she could easily relate to Pirie's efforts to handle the pressures and responsibilities of a taking on a bigger job.
She added: 'It's funny, I compare it a bit to what I felt like when I did the first series.
'I had this thing of being like: 'Can I do it? Can I actually do this role? Can Karen do it?' It was huge what she cracked in the first season.
'The first series was my first time as number one on the call sheet, and it was quite overwhelming at times, but it was really exciting and thrilling. I just wanted to do the best job I could.
"I honestly didn't know how the first series would go down with me being the face of the show, but not being Hollywood-star-famous. But people just jumped in and went with it.
"I think it's to do with the fact that there are lots of crime shows on TV, but pretty much all of them are about men who have drinking problems who hate everything. It's crime by a cool young person that actually understands what people want to see on TV.
'I was worried coming back to this season that I couldn't do it again.
'I was like: 'Can I still be funny and likeable, and a bit sarcastic and rude?
'It was really satisfying at how I was able to slip straight back into who she was. I think that's sort of down to the foundation of the writing, what we made in the last season and the dynamic between the characters.'
The new season, which has again been adapted by a McDermid novel by screenwriter Emer Kenny, sees Pirie struggle to cope being in a relationship at work that she insists on keeping from almost all of her colleagues.
Wyatt said: 'Karen and Phil do come across some difficulties when their values as police officers come into play. It causes friction in their relationship.
'Karen and Phil are both strong-willed and stubborn. They have very different ways of working. Phil is very much a straight-laced cop who wants to abide by the book. It's very important to him to move up the ranks in the right way and not skip any steps.
'The bottom line in Karen is a more talented police officer and is much more creative than Phil. I think that challenges Phil's ambition a bit and pushes him to be better, but they definitely butt heads.'
Lyle said: "Karen and Phil's relationship is a couple of years down the line now, but it's still a secret at work.
'Phil really wants things to be exposed, but she is still quite nervous about that. She has never been able to be part of the boys' club. She is always having to prove herself. To jeopardise that for love feels like too much of a risk for her.
'I think Karen's under the impression that, as a woman, you can only have one or the other – a career or a home life. She's misguided in thinking she can't have both.
'Phil's a good, smart man who's willing to support her, but Karen thinks she has to choose her career to keep getting ahead. Her career gives her a sense of worth, but it can damage her love life.
'I think she's right to protect Phil because he's really good for her. It's important to have meaningful relationships, and that's what makes Karen a layered character.'
More light relief is on offer from the character of Mint, who is described as "a bit of a prima donna" by Jencks.
The actor said: "He is a bit more ambitious in this series.
"His deluded dream is that he wants to work for MI5, so he is putting in the steps to try to make that happen. He has got ideas based on what he has seen on TV and in the movies. He thinks he should be involved in high-profile cases.
"It was good for him to step up a bit and show that he can lead things and take the initiative – but I think Karen's a bit alarmed by it."
Lyle added: 'Karen is blunt and direct, and I love that about her. She's not overly concerned about how she's perceived, which sometimes gets her into trouble.
'It's refreshing to play someone who says what she thinks. I also love how funny she is. There aren't many roles for women my age that balance humour, depth, and action.
"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. As an actor, it's the dream.'