karen pirie© Photo: ITV

Karen Pirie: Where you've seen star of new ITV drama Lauren Lyle before

Are you watching the new series?

TV & Film Writer
September 25, 2022

ITV's latest detective drama, Karen Pirie, starring Scottish star Lauren Lyle, looks absolutely brilliant, and we can't wait to get stuck in.

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The actress takes on the titular character, Karen, an ambitious and dedicated Scottish detective who joins the police's historical murder cases unit and reopens a previously unsolved murder case after new leads come to light.

WATCH: Lauren Lyle leads the cast of new ITV drama Karen Pirie 

Lauren will be familiar to television viewers for her recurring role as Marsali MacKimmie Fraser in the historical fiction show Outlander. The 29-year-old actress also played peace protester Jade Antoniak in the BBC drama Vigil - and it was thanks to that show that the role of Karen came her way.

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"Our executive producer, Simon Heath, spotted me at the read through for Vigil – he was thinking about casting for Karen Pirie at the time and tells me I stood out," she said.

Will you be watching Karen Pirie?

"The script for the first episode was really unlike anything else you would get sent as a mid-twenties, female Scottish actor, this kind of role doesn't come along often. Usually, you don't get the chance to play a detective until you're a bit older, but I felt really akin to her."

© Photo: Getty Images

Lauren first appeared on screens in 2015 in a BBC comedy series

Her first television appearance was in BBC Three's Comedy Feeds back in 2015, and she has also appeared in Holby City and opposite Sean Bean in the BBC's award-winning drama Broken.

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Will you be watching Karen Pirie? The synopsis for the crime drama reads: "When teenager Rosie Duff was found brutally murdered in the Scottish university town of St Andrews in 1996, suspicion fell on the three drunken students who were discovered at the scene of the crime, claiming to have found her body.

"Twenty-five years on, someone appears to be willing to risk everything to keep the secrets surrounding the case hidden. Do the three men know more than they previously revealed? How flawed was the original investigation? And can Karen uncover the truth of what happened to Rosie that fateful night?"

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