
Karen Pirie season 2 start time, cast, episode count and how to watch
The ITV detective drama Karen Pirie is set to grace our TV screens once again in mere hours, as it rolls out its second instalment.
Launched in 2022, the series draws from the pages of Val McDermid's Inspector Karen Pirie novels and features Outlander's Lauren Lyle in a robust leading performance.
She plays a young, fearless Scottish investigator "with a quick mouth and a tenacious desire for the truth".
In its debut outing, viewers saw Pirie grapple with a 25-year-old cold case of a murdered barmaid, unravelling skeletons in the closet and deception to pinpoint the true culprit amidst a tangle of possible angles.
Scripted by Emer Kenny and crafted by the minds behind Line of Duty and Bodyguard, Karen Pirie makes a much-anticipated comeback for season two, inspired by McDermid's second book in her literary sequence, A Darker Domain, reports the Express.
In anticipation of the new episodes, Lauren expressed: "I'm thrilled that we will continue the life of our fearless young detective Karen Pirie, and of course, her bumbag. I've known for a while how well the show has gone down behind the scenes so it's been a joy to see audiences want more."
She went on to say: "It's a creative honour to work alongside Emer Kenny with the backbone of Val McDermid's story. Season 1 was incredibly exciting building an original character we hadn't seen before. I look forward to getting the gang back together and finally being able to answer the question: 'Please say there will be a season 2?' with an 'Oh yes.'"
For those eagerly awaiting, here is what you need to know about the upcoming season two.
When does Karen Pirie air on ITV and how can I watch?
Karen Pirie season two will air on Sunday, July 20, with the first episode premiering at 8pm on ITV1.
All episodes will be available to stream on ITVX.
Who is in the cast of Karen Pirie season 2?
Lauren Lyle will return alongside series one stars including Sex Education actor Chris Jenks, Timestalker's Zach Wyatt, EastEnders actor Steve John Shepherd, Emer Kenny and Rakhee Thakrar.
Joining the returning cast as new characters related to the case are Saskia Ashdown, James Cosmo, Frances Tomelty and John Michie.
The cast also includes Julia Brown, Mark Rowley, Kat Ronney, Conor Berry, Stuart Campbell, Jamie Michie, Madeleine Worrall, Jack Stewart, Thoren Ferguson, and Helen Katamba, James Fleet, Tom Mannion, and Tommaso Basili.
How many episodes are in Karen Pirie season 2?
Just like the first season, series two will have three episodes, titled A Darker Domain: Part 1, 2 and 3.
The official synopsis reads: "After her bittersweet success in series one, Karen has been promoted to Detective Inspector and seemingly given the authority she has long been fighting for.
"Just as she's getting into the swing of her powerful new role, she is assigned an infamous unsolved case that will put her under intense scrutiny; from her boss, from the media, and ultimately, from sinister forces that would rather the past stayed in the past.
"The 1984 case of Catriona and Adam Grant has confounded investigators and intrigued the public like no other. Catriona, the charming young heiress to a vast oil fortune, and her two year old son Adam, were brutally kidnapped at gunpoint outside a fish and chip shop in Fife.
"The ransom notes that followed stirred up an uncontrollable press storm, but when the culprits fell silent, the police faltered, and Catriona and Adam were never seen again.
"Now, a man's body has been discovered, with indisputable links to the original kidnap. With the first piece of evidence in decades, Karen must assemble an unbeatable team alongside her sincere and lovable sidekick DC Jason 'Mint' Murray (Chris Jenks) and the brilliant - but romantically complicated - DS Phil Parhatka (Zach Wyatt).
"With the international renown of the kidnap and the constant pressure from Catriona's father, Sir Broderick Grant (James Cosmo), the team take on the biggest challenge of their careers to date.
"As Karen delves deeper into what happened in the autumn of 1984, political grudges and painful secrets reveal themselves, and it soon becomes clear... the past is far from dead."
Karen Pirie season 2 will air from Sunday 20th July 2025 on ITV1 and ITVX.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Metro
24 minutes ago
- Metro
Emmerdale fans blow holes in Owen and John 'suicide' twist
Fans of ITV soap Emmerdale have pointed out some plot holes in the latest part of John Sugden's (Oliver Farnworth) storyline. Last week, John learnt that Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) and Tracy Shankley (Amy Walsh) were going to try and work out who killed Nate Robinson (Jurell Carter). Desperate to keep their focus off him, John realised he needed to come up with a plan – and fast. That same day, John was asked to visit Owen Michaels' (Simon Haines) house as part of his work at the surgery. When he arrived, he found Owen – the guy who spiked Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley) – unconscious on the sofa. John rushed to call an ambulance, but then realise another problem of his would be solved if he just…let Owen die. In the time it took for Owen's life to slip away, John had created a story that made Owen look like he killed Nate. John wrote a note on Owen's laptop that confessed to murdering Nate, as well as revealing why he did it. He then used antibacterial wipes to clean the laptop, the door handle and Owen's neck, to ensure his fingerprints would be removed from the scene. A few days later, Liam Cavanagh (Jonny McPherson) went to check on Owen and found him dead. DS Walsh then arrived, and later told Tracy and Cain that this man killed Nate. It was a twist that left Cain and Tracy stunned. While they have no reason to not believe Walsh, fans of the ITV soap have certainly been struggling, as they noticed multiple plot holes in the scenes that saw John frame Owen, and what followed after. Taking to social media platform X, the point mentioned the most is John's effort to clean his fingerprints from Owen's house. It's possible a post-mortem would've been conducted on Owen after his death, to determine what he had in his system when he died. As a result of this and forensics checking the house, surely they would've noticed someone had cleaned Owen's neck, the laptop, and other areas? And therefore considered that he perhaps did not end his life? 'Did they notice that all the fingerprints on the laptop and Owen's hands had been wiped clean? #Emmerdale', one fan wondered. Another pointed out: 'He didn't seem to have his 'I'm a Medic' over shoulder pack with him that he's usually surgically attached to, just a smaller brown more casual looking bag. Not suss at all that certain areas have been wiped down, whether effective print/DNA wise or not #Emmerdale.' Also on X, audience members noticed that Robert mentioned Owen's confession in the pub…without actually being told about it. 'How did Robert know Owen confessed to killing Nate? Tracey and Cain haven't told anyone; John and Liam just walked in. Plot hole klaxon! #Emmerdale', they highlighted. This week, a suspicious Robert learnt from Owen's brother Steve that they were together in Hull the day Nate died. Want to be the first to hear shocking EastEnders spoilers? Who's leaving Coronation Street? The latest gossip from Emmerdale? Join 10,000 soaps fans on Metro's WhatsApp Soaps community and get access to spoiler galleries, must-watch videos, and exclusive interviews. Simply click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in! Don't forget to turn on notifications so you can see when we've just dropped the latest spoilers! It proved someone else murdered him, but Robert grew frustrated when Steve said he didn't want to tell the police, due to him and Owen attending an illegal job in the city last year. More Trending In upcoming episodes, the theory that John is too good to be true is fuelled for Robert when he learns of the many times he has saved a villager's life. It leaves Robert in with a chance of exposing him but if John works out what's going on, will it end up being someone else? Perhaps it could be Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt), given that he currently has no idea he's talking to John through the mental health charity? If you've got a soap or TV story, video or pictures get in touch by emailing us soaps@ – we'd love to hear from you. Join the community by leaving a comment below and stay updated on all things soaps on our homepage. View More » MORE: Emmerdale fans 'work out' who newcomer Kev is looking for MORE: All Emmerdale spoilers for next week as arrest is made MORE: Why is Emmerdale not on tonight? Yet more scheduling chaos explained


South Wales Guardian
24 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Emmerdale star shares major career update with ITV show fans
Lisa Riley, who plays the role of Mandy Dingle on the long-running programme, marked the milestone on Facebook, where she told viewers she is "humbled and happy, but mostly giddy to bring more 'Mandy Madness' for many more years to come." The actress went on to praise the fans themselves for their "incredible" support. Taking to Facebook, the ITV star told fans of the show on Facebook: "30 years ago today, I wore a bright lime green body suit, had something camp and spiked in my hair, Double Denim (before Bewitched), Buffalo trainers (before the Spice Girls), ran around the side of the Emmerdale church at the Esholt village, bumped into the character Dave Glover, flirted, smiled that cheeky smile, flickered the eyelashes, and danced to Agadoo expressing true Dingle loyalty to her core, family comes first, second and third." She added that it has been an "absolute joy" to play the character and took some time to thank the "incredible talent" of the crew, writers and producers. The actress said that the character's "famous one-liners" make her laugh personally and told fans that she is "so grateful, so humbled and happy, but mostly giddy to bring more 'Mandy Madness' for many more years to come." She concluded her post by saying: "Always learning, thank you to all the Emmerdale fans, your support is incredible. "P.S. Dom, thank you beyond thank you, for embracing my bonkers... DAILY! Love ya to pieces." According to IMDb, Lisa Riley is an English actress from Bury in Greater Manchester who was born on July 13, 1976. While she is best known for playing the role of Mandy Dingle, something she has done for over 30 years, she has starred in other shows. One of these includes Fat Friends starring James Corden in the year 2000. Emmerdale is available to watch and stream on demand via ITV and ITVX.


Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
The shock casting method show bosses use to select Love Island contestants has been revealed
The shock casting method used by Love Island bosses to select contestants for the show has been revealed. It's been reported that ITV execs have admitted to using artificial intelligence as part of the casting process for the reality TV show. After the cast of the 2025 series was revealed earlier this year, fans were quick to mock the newbies as 'clones' of the previous stars, with the likes of Megan Forte Clarke being compared to 2019 islander Maura Higgins. And now The Sun reports that automated technology has been used to whittle down the thousands of applicants for the show. Speaking as ITV announced its half-year results, ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall shared: 'We will use AI in any way we can to make what we do more efficient. 'And a great example of that for me from (ITV) Studios is they're using a tool where it's a smart editing assistance and it's about speed and quality. And they used it for Love Island and casting this year.' She added that the team 'rated it eight out of ten'. Meanwhile, an ITV spokesperson confirmed to MailOnline that AI was not directly used to make casting decisions, but rather to edit hundreds of hours of footage into highlight reels for the team to watch. They shared: 'It simply assists with the editing of audition tapes during the casting period. 'We get thousands and thousands of applications every year and we hold face to face auditions. 'When we get to the stage of narrowing it down to hundreds of prospective Islanders and we want to share audition highlights on a reel with the ITV commissioning team, to support the casting decision, we use the software (Quickture along with an Adobe editing programme) to edit the hundreds of hours of footage into highlight reels.' They added that the process means the casting team can 'spend more time researching' and looking for more prospective Islanders. It comes as Love Island fans have hit out at show bosses during Thursday's episode after they were left unimpressed by how Shakira Khan was given the 'villain edit'. Prior to the episode airing, It was reported that the 22-year-old threatened to quit the ITV2 dating show over the situation with Harry. A source told The Sun: 'She went to the beach hut and asked to leave the villa. 'The duty of care team were able to help her through her emotions and she decided to stay.' In the latest episode of the ITV show, the infamous Grafties returned - where contestants are shown clips on a big screen that either revive past drama or highlight hilarious moments that most of the villa hadn't seen before. The nominees for the Best Double Act award were Dejon and Helena, Toni and Shakira, and Helena and Meg. During the clips, Toni and Shakira were seen talking negatively about Meg, following movie night. After watching the gossip on the big screen, Meg said she felt that Shakira and Toni were 'fake to her face,' prompting Toni to fire back: 'So are you. You act like you never say a bad thing about anyone.' Next came Helena and Meg's clip, which, in contrast, highlighted their blossoming friendship in the villa. Toni and Shakira went on to win the award, with Shakira saying: 'We said what we said, it was after Movie Night. 'I don't know why it's so surprising, we had a scrap that night.' It comes after Love Island fans have hit out at show bosses during Thursday's episode after they were left unimpressed by how Shakira Khan was given the 'villain edit' during the Grafties Fans are now calling out show bosses for giving Shakira the 'villain edit' during the game Fans are now calling out show bosses for giving Shakira the 'villain edit' during the game. They raged on X: 'If they hurt Shakira anymore I'm literally going to stay for the credits, note down each producers name and HUNT THEM DOWN,' 'The producers convincing Shakira to stay in the villa so she could get attacked at the grafties is just evil #LoveIsland,' 'The fact we've seen Shakira be so sad, open & vulnerable recently. And now the producers are gonna paint her out to be bad with the Grafties, and make her feel even worse :(( i don't wanna watch,' 'Look at the clip they used for Meg and Helena vs the one they used for Shakira and Toni, and tell me again with a straight face that there isn't a clear agenda,' 'Why are the producers giving Shakira and Toni this bad edit!'