Karen Pirie

D. S. Karen Pirie is brought into The Serious Crimes unit, and tasked with investigating a cold case, involving the death of a young barmaid.

Firstly, it's nice that after Ridley, that we're given another new mystery series, ITV really are going for the Sunday evening slot, I'm a fan of the two hour dramas, question is, does Karen Pirie cut the mustard?

For the most part, yes, well written, well acted and well produced, there's nothing particularly unique or original, but what was done, was done well. A little different, in that it's not a series of mysteries, it's a continuation of the same story.

As a big fan of Emer Kenny, it was interesting to see how her writing skills compared to her acting ones, she's clearly talented at both.

It's visually very good, though some of the dialogue is a little tough to follow, I had to have the subtitles on for the first ten minutes, as I just couldn't make it out.

Lauren Lyle did a good job in the title role, well acted, I'm hoping we learn a little more about Pirie.

A good watch, 7/10.

The series, set in the university town of St Andrews, on the Fife coast, opens in 1996. A Police woman stops a student who is covered in blood; he claims that he and two friends found a seriously injured woman in the grave yard of the cathedral. When she gets there the woman is dead. The three students are detained but despite their somewhat implausible explanations there is no evidence that they committed the murder so they are released. Twenty five years later the case is still unsolved and after a 'true crime' podcaster uses it as an example of the police not caring about women the case is reopened. Wanting a woman to lead the reinvestigation they turn to DS Karen Pirie. She is teamed with DC Jason Murray. The case will see them talking to the trio of students again as well as to the victim's brothers, one of whom has a propensity for violence. As the story progresses various secrets are exposed and alibis broken; we also learn more about the victim.

When I sat down to watch this I expected it to be a standard ITV Sunday night mystery that would be wrapped up in one two hour episode; as the end of the first episode approached it was clear that wouldn't be the case. Thoroughly gripped I was concerned that I'd now have to wait a week between episodes but thankfully all three are available on ITV Hub so I could enjoy the series over three nights. The story got off to a great start before effectively introducing key characters; most obviously the eponymous DS Pirie. She is a solid leading character; making a refreshing change from the typical older character with some sort of emotional baggage. The story progresses nicely with the events of the present being intertwined with key events from 1996. The location is good; making a refreshing change from stories set in a big city while avoiding becoming a Scottish 'Morse' which could have happening in a famous university town. The acting is impressive; I particularly liked Lauren Lyle's performance as Pirie. On the strength of this story I hope we see more of DS Pirie.

The character Karen Pirie is a real woman. Not a woman written by a man. Not a woman written by a woman just to make a point. This character feels real. She is soft and strong, awkward and assertive all at the same time. Is it the greatest crime story ever? No, probably not. But it is a good story with an outstanding lead character. The rest of the cast is great and noticably diverse. Story lines were created, that managed to circumvent clichés and steered clear of stereotypes. This is what I want to see more of and I am hoping for a second season to see Karen Pirie step up even more as a successful detective, while nurturing genuine relationships.

It's nice to see a slow paced police drama that doesn't feel slow or boring. Thoroughly enjoyed it and hope there will be more.

All the cast were excellent and there was good character development between the leads.

It definitely feels like this could go further, and make a nice change from the tired shows like Vera.

I know there had been complaints about the sound quality on episode one, but we watched it on the ITV Hub and had no issues at all.

Not sure about this extended review format that IMDB are now insisting on. It's rather unnecessary and just means people who want to praise a show end up going on like this.

It's a good drama that has a plot that holds up for me the whole season, and this does. A good script highlighted by the small touches and lack of speeches so that it actually sounded like people talking to each other and not speaking to move the plot along. A current trope of time shifting is here too, but relevant. The acting was also down to earth without anyone trying to steal scenes. The setting of St Andrews's will add to any drama, and if anything was under used, but still played a role. The actors have experience in unflashy tv dramas and with no "stars" it was a real ensemble production and much better for it...