Karen Pirie | |
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Genre | |
Based on | Inspector Karen Pirie series by Val McDermid |
Written by | Emer Kenny |
Directed by | Gareth Bryn |
Starring | |
Composer | Stephanie Taylor |
Country of origin |
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Original language |
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No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 3 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producer | Clare Kerr |
Production locations |
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Cinematography |
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Editor | Gareth Bryn |
Camera setup | Single-camera |
Running time | 120 minutes X 3 |
Production company | World Productions |
Original release | |
Network | ITV |
Release | 25 September 2022 – present |
Karen Pirie is a British crime drama television series based on the Inspector Karen Pirie series of novels by Val McDermid. The first series began on ITV on 25 September 2022 and concluded on 9 October 2022. A second series has been commissioned.
In series 1, Karen Pirie, a young detective-sergeant, is in charge of reopening the cold case for the murder of a barmaid.
Series 1 is based on the first novel in a series by Val McDermid, called The Distant Echo. [1] [2] Emer Kenny wrote the adaptation for television. [3]
In May 2021, it was announced that Lauren Lyle would star as the title character. [4] The producers are the same as for the series Line of Duty and Bodyguard, [1] and the creative team is unusually young. [5] Series 1 was directed by Gareth Bryn.[ citation needed ]
Series 2 is based on the second novel in McDermid's series, A Darker Domain, and is co-written by Kenny and Gillian Roger Park. It consists of three two-hour episodes. [3]
The first series began on ITV on 25 September 2022 and concluded on 9 October 2022. On 21 February 2023, it was announced the series had been commissioned for a second season. The second series is due to start filming in early 2024, and is slated to be aired towards the end of 2024. [3]
Series One averaged 4.82 million viewers.[ citation needed ]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 91% based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 8.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Clever and twisty, Karen Pirie refreshingly revamps the traditional grizzled detective procedural by putting a young woman on the case." [6]
Writing in The Guardian , Lucy Mangan praised the show for its humour, confidence, and charm, as well as its suspenseful plot that keeps the viewer guessing until the very end. Mangan gave the show 4 out of 5 stars. [7] Sean O'Grady also gave the show 4 out of 5 stars in The Independent , writing that the "tartan noir drama lifts itself above the usual run of these cold case thrillers because the story is told in a refreshingly cohesive way." O'Grady especially praises the work of Lyle saying that she "is excellent as the undervalued, underestimated officer who succeeds where the men have failed." [8] Abha Shah is less enthusiastic, giving the show 3 out of 5 stars in the London Evening Standard . Shah writes: "It’s a decent enough plot but the execution is as bungled as the police work Pirie finds herself uncovering. There’s an element of finesse that’s missing, a shame considering the production team’s CV." [9]
For writing the first episode, Emer Kenny was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Episode in a TV Series. [10]
At the BAFTA Scotland Awards in November 2023, Lyle was awarded Best Actress Television for Karen Pirie and the Audience Award for Favourite Scot on Screen. [11]
Valarie McDermid, is a Scottish crime writer, best known for a series of novels featuring clinical psychologist Dr. Tony Hill, in a grim sub-genre known as Tartan Noir.
ITV3 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. The channel was first launched on Monday 1 November 2004 at 9 pm, replacing Plus (Granada). ITV3 is the sixth-largest UK television channel by audience share and the largest after the five main terrestrial services, the position which was previously held by its sister station ITV2. The channel is known for repeats of ITV dramas, and including sequential reruns of Agatha Christie's Poirot, Classic Coronation Street, Classic Emmerdale, Heartbeat, Inspector Morse and A Touch of Frost, amongst others as well as formerly showing repeats of Kojak, Numb3rs, Columbo, Cagney & Lacey and The Bill.
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Wire in the Blood is a British crime drama television series, created and produced by Coastal Productions with Tyne Tees Television and broadcast on ITV from 14 November 2002 to 31 October 2008. The series is based on characters created by Val McDermid, including a university clinical psychologist, Dr Anthony "Tony" Valentine Hill, who is able to tap into his own dark side to get inside the heads of serial killers. Working with detectives, Hill takes on tough and seemingly impenetrable cases in an attempt to track down the killers before they strike again.
Stephen James Mangan is an English actor, comedian, presenter and writer. He has played Guy Secretan in Green Wing, Dan Moody in I'm Alan Partridge, Seán Lincoln in Episodes, Bigwig in Watership Down, Postman Pat in Postman Pat: The Movie, Richard Pitt in Hang Ups, Andrew in Bliss (2018), and Nathan Stern in The Split (2018–2022).
David Pirie is a screenwriter, film producer, film critic, and novelist. As a screenwriter, he is known for his noirish original thrillers, classic adaptations and period gothic pieces. In 1998, he was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Drama Serial for his adaptation of Wilkie Collins's 1859 novel The Woman in White into "The Woman in White". His first book, A Heritage of Horror: The English Gothic Cinema 1946–1972 (1973), was the first book-length survey of the British horror film. He has written several novels, including the Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes trilogy which includes The Patient's Eyes (2002), The Night Calls (2003), and The Dark Water (2006).
Vicky Lee McClure is an English actress, model and presenter. She is known for her roles as Detective Inspector Kate Fleming in the BBC series Line of Duty (2012–2021) and Lol Jenkins in Shane Meadows' film This Is England (2006) and its Channel 4 sequel mini-series This Is England '86 (2010), This Is England '88 (2011), and This Is England '90 (2015). Before This is England, she appeared in another of Meadows' films, A Room for Romeo Brass (1999), where she played Ladine. She won the RTS Award and British Academy Television Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Lol in This is England '86 in 2011.
A Place of Execution is a crime novel by Val McDermid, first published in 1999. The novel won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the 2001 Dilys Award, was shortlisted for both the Gold Dagger and the Edgar Award, and was chosen by The New York Times as one of the most notable books of the year.
BBC Studios Writers’ Academy is a training scheme for writers of television drama. The course was originally run by the British Broadcasting Corporation from 2005 to 2013. It relaunched under the banner of BBC Studios in 2019.
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Emer Kenny is a British actress and screenwriter. She is best known for playing Zsa Zsa Carter in EastEnders and its spin-off EastEnders: E20, Danielle Reeves in Pramface and Penelope "Bunty" Windermere in Father Brown.
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Lauren Lyle is a Scottish actress best known for her recurring role as Marsali MacKimmie Fraser in the Starz television drama Outlander, and peace protester Jade Antoniak in the BBC drama Vigil. Lyle also plays the leading role in the ITV crime thriller Karen Pirie.