Unforgotten

What happened to Nicola Walker in Unforgotten and how did her character DCI Cassie Stewart die? Here's a recap as series 5 starts.

And then she starts this new job, and on the first day she gets some news on the way to work that completely blindsides her that has implications in terms of how she is at her job. Speaking about joining the team, Sinéad said: "If you're at the start of something, you’re all in together and you’re all running blind a bit. "But we didn't have to search for a year, we didn't have to search for a day, because as soon as I knew the team needed a new DCI, I also knew it had to be Sinéad, having watched her TV work in slack jawed wonder, over the years. [Unforgotten filming locations: Where was series 5 of the ITV drama filmed?](https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/tv/unforgotten-filming-locations-series-5-26343427) [How many episodes of Unforgotten are there? "I love the irony of this brilliant woman dying an accidental death that wouldn’t be investigated in a show about complicated investigations ... It was simply that Chris and I thought it was a fantastic, impactful story. A synopsis reads: "Determined to make a good first impression with her new colleagues, will Jess be in the right frame of mind to deliver and inspire the team? Speaking about series five following the devastating end to series four, writer and executive producer, Chris Lang, said: "So how do I follow that? Does she have the resolve, professionalism and spirit to live up to her much-admired and respected predecessor?" "And so then it struck me, that that's what I start with. "Perhaps it shouldn't have been a surprise (the reaction) - I've been left heartbroken enough times myself when a favourite TV character has died. [ITV](https://www.walesonline.co.uk/all-about/itv) show following the exit of Nicola Walker, who played DCI Cassie Stuart in seasons one to four.

After the last season left 9.5 million of us weeping, the beguiling cop drama is back with no Nicola Walker and a testy new boss. Will Sunny heal while the ...

Distraught and remorseful, Ebele called her AA sponsor to talk her out of a relapse. In Westminster, Tony Hume (Ian McElhinney) was smart-suited and well spoken, with hints he was a Tory grandee. I sincerely hope to do her and the rest of the team justice.” He lied to his parents that he was single, before returning home to a woman in bed. Their lifestyle contrasted starkly with that of Jay (Rhys Yates) and girlfriend Cheryl (Hebe Beardsall), heroin addicts on a Thames-side sink estate. She wanted to get the latest cold case “off the books”. In Paris, Karol Wojski (Max Rinehart) was working two jobs – airport freight-handling and taxi-driving – having dropped out of a promising career. Investigative scenes were interwoven, as is Unforgotten’s wont, with introductions to a web of characters – on the face of it, unconnected to the murder victim but inevitably implicated. We caught her in the midst of a domestic drama with “dirtbag husband” Steve (Andrew Lancel, an Alan Shearer-alike who often plays wrong’uns). As we rejoined, it was months since Cassie’s tragic death, and after a couple of interim DCIs a permanent replacement had been appointed in the shape of pocket rocket DCI Jessica “Jessie” James (Keenan). Series two focused on a liquefied body in a suitcase, dumped in the River Lea. The morning after it aired, leaving 9.5 million viewers damp-cheeked, ITV announced that Unforgotten would continue with a new “partner in crime” for Sunny.

Television: The Irish actor takes over as the cold-case drama's outwardly tough, inwardly vulnerable lead detective.

Yet, as is often the way with Irish protagonists in British drama, the show doesn’t do a good job of explaining how an Irishwoman ended up as a senior Metropolitan Police detective. James arrives at the office in an understandably stinky mood and quickly gets down to business – that of not getting on with Sunny. When initial lab reports suggest the woman in the chimney was killed 50 years ago, she calls off the investigation. Who’s going to be the gobsh*** to follow Nicola Walker?’” But she was talked around – and is so compelling as Det Chief Insp Jessica James that it takes only a few minutes to forget that Unforgotten was once The Cassie Stewart Show. The discovery is made by thumping coincidence on the very morning that James takes over from Stewart. It’s a long way from Fair City to the London forensic labs that are the natural habitat of the flinty detective played by Sinéad Keenan in Unforgotten (UTV, Monday, 9pm).

Sanjeev Bhaskar's DI Sunny Khan has a new boss – Sinéad Keenan as DCI Jessica James – and who are Series 5's main suspects?

He was also Ko Sharmus, one of the last remaining humans left to guard a dimensional gateway at the tail end of the Cyber-Wars, in Doctor Who episodes including ‘ [Ascension of the Cybermen](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/doctor-who-series-12-episode-9-review-ascension-of-the-cybermen/)’. Hayley Mills, the daughter of acting legend Sir John Mills and a star in her own right, plays Lord Tony Hume’s wife, Emma. The good news is Sanjeev Bhaskar is back as our beloved DI Sunny Khan. Unfortunately, her partner Dave (played by Mark Frost) doesn’t seem to share his wife’s lofty aspirations. We also discover that the person filling Cassie’s very large detective shoes as Sunny’s new boss-slash-bestie will be the prickly DCI Jessica James, who doesn’t exactly make a great first impression. [Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows](https://www.denofgeek.com/?s=Harry+Potter+and+the+Deathly+Hallows): Part Two, a sex worker in Happy Valley Series 2, Princess Alda in Victoria and Catrin in last year’s series of [The Witcher](https://www.denofgeek.com/the-witcher/): Blood Origin. Besides, from day one, she definitely has her own emotional baggage to deal with. [Jekyll and Hyde](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/itvs-jekyll-hyde-what-we-learned-visiting-the-set/). [Derry Girls](https://www.denofgeek.com/?s=derry+girls), Ronnie in The Split or Barristan Selmy in [Game of Thrones](https://www.denofgeek.com/game-of-thrones/). [EastEnders](https://www.denofgeek.com/eastenders/) and Epiphany in Western drama Jericho. [Being Human](https://www.denofgeek.com/being-human/), Addams the green, spiky-headed Vinvocci from [Doctor Who](https://www.denofgeek.com/doctor-who/)’s ‘ [The End of Time](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/doctor-who-the-end-of-time-part-one-review-2/)’ episodes, and from Three Families, the hard-hitting drama about abortion in Northern Ireland. [Series 4 finale](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/unforgottens-cassie-and-sunny-a-love-story/), in which we said a heartbreaking goodbye to DCI Cassie Stuart (aka the incredible Nicola Walker), we’ve got plenty of questions about the Series 5 cast.

In that moment DC Sunny Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar) lost his close friend and mentor and we, the viewers, realised that we were to suddenly be without the ...

We have known for a while that DCI Cassie Stuart was to be replaced, with news of Sinéad Keenan's casting as the new DCI, Jessica James. He also displays a deeply personal investment in continuing the righteous work that they had embarked on together, while still not being quite ready to step directly into her shoes. But whether the show would still carry its same magic through to a new-look series five was still up for debate – until now.

ITV's finest police procedural returns with a new detective chief inspector to solve cold cases alongside Sanjeev Bhaskar's trusty DI.

All are somehow connected to the discovery of a woman’s body in the chimney of a house under renovation in Hammersmith, which is where Sunny and James (I’m sorry, I just don’t know her well enough yet to call her by her first name) first meet. At the top of the tree is Lord Hume, played by Ian McElhinney. [killed off in dramatic style](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2021/03/29/unforgotten-episode-6-review-end-tvs-best-police-drama/) at the end of series four. Rhys Yates is particularly good as Jay, introduced to us as he robs a woman’s handbag to fund his girlfriend’s habit. The owner of a bustling restaurant, hoping to turn the business into a successful chain. Every time James’s brusqueness gets a bit much, though, we return to her marital breakdown and marvel at the fact she hasn’t fallen apart. Keenan is entirely believable in the role. The dirtbag husband (down as “My Gorgeous Hubby” in her phone – she might want to change that) isn’t taking her calls. When he offers financial help to a disadvantaged teenager, the boy’s mother throws it back in his face by complaining that the Tories have defunded schools, hospitals and social care, a speech so obviously shoehorned into the script that it will make your toes curl. A warehouse worker and taxi driver trying to make a living in Paris. [The Bay](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/bay-season-3-episode-1-review-decent-whodunit-shame-miseryguts/) hasn’t been the same since Morven Christie was replaced by another actress, Marsha Thomason – but Unforgotten will thrive. Lang has also done two things to stop us hurling our tea at the screen and swearing off the show forever.

The much-loved gaffer was killed off at the end of the last series, but Chris Lang's show is as taut and tense and pleasurable as ever.

But this is all about the body, how it got there and who is responsible. During renovations of an old house in Hammersmith, the builders discover something hidden up the chimney. First, it doesn’t write her out of the story. It may not have an HBO hiss at the start, or an A-lister in a leading role, but this is television to savour. That’s not to say she isn’t missed, but Unforgotten has been around for long enough to know exactly what it is doing. Hers is such a big chair to fill that many thought the series would end for good, but the creator, Chris Lang, has chosen to continue, taking a grieving Sunny Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar) into a Cassie-less future.

Two great interviews, plus reviews and the team talking about tropes that give them the 'icks'. Listen via Empire.

And that's not all as [Sam Claflin](https://www.empireonline.com/people/sam-claflin/) and Camilla Morrone also drop in to chat Prime Video's Daisy Jones & The Six. [your podcast app of choice](https://podfollow.com/pilot-tv-podcast). [Sanjeev Bhaskar](https://www.empireonline.com/people/sanjeev-bhaskar/) – is on the show to talk all about it.

UNFORGOTTEN fans all said the same thing tonight after the ITV drama returned without Nicola Walker.Viewers were in tears when the actress' beloved ch.

[DSI Cassie Stuart died](https://www.thesun.ie/tv/6774960/unforgotten-finale-cassie-dead/) in the final episode of the last series. I think the clues were there in season three. She’s not going to be forgotten. [series 5](https://www.thesun.ie/tv/6749595/unforgotten-series-5-will-there-be/), with a new case, and a new 'Partner in Crime' for DI Sunny Khan." [Sanjeev decided to star in the fifth series of Unforgotten](https://www.thesun.ie/tv/8507839/unforgotten-series-5-cast-itv/), [Nicola quit the show](https://www.thesun.ie/tv/6750661/why-nicola-walker-left-unforgotten/). It was revealed she was hit by a car thief who had left the scene, and that "distracted" Cassie had just pulled out in front of the driver.

DCI Cassie Stuart's exit on Unforgotten was a huge shock to fans. Here's what Nicola Walker, Sanjeev Bhaskar and show creator Chris Lang have to say about ...

[The Express](https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/1735270/Unforgotten-Sanjeev-Bhaskar-Nicola-Walker-lost) about filming the new series. Keenan is concerned that it will be hard for the audience to accept her as Walker’s replacement: ‘I fully anticipate that, for at least the first half of the series, nobody’s going to like me. Because you have to be bold and say we’re moving into a new iteration of the show – and don’t give yourself an out to return to a safer version of it.’ It’s a really nice thing to have to remember her by.’ ‘Chris and I were always interested in looking at the cost of being involved with these sorts of cases that we all love watching on television. I felt like she was quietly very unusual on television because she was a real person.’ By the time we got to her nervous breakdown in series three, we were already talking about where that story might naturally go, so her sudden death was very much a joint decision,’ Walker said. In 2022, she also said goodbye to her recurring role as Hannah Stern in Abi Morgan’s BBC One legal drama ‘I’m not on social media, but when the final episode went out, I almost wanted to join Twitter to tell everyone that I didn’t walk away from the show, nor did they ask me to leave. When Walker’s character DCI Cassie Stuart – the ITV crime drama’s much-loved lead detective – was involved in a car crash in the penultimate episode of Series Four in 2021, she was expected to miraculously pull through… And now, as Series 5 of Unforgotten arrives on our screens with Sinead Keenan as the new lead detective alongside our beloved Khan, played by Sanjeev Bhaskar, we’re reliving it all over again. The brain injuries Cassie sustained in the side-on smash with a speeding car thief were too severe for her to recover from.

Without the comfort blanket of Cassie and Sunny's friendship, the new Unforgotten makes a sad binge-watch, but has retained all of its charm.

Unforgotten has always taken a nuanced approach to the difference between justice and the law, and that complexity is alive and well here. That shadow is largely cast by the case, in which the body of a woman is discovered behind a fireplace. Leading up to the finale though, the lack of reprieve once provided by Cassie and Sunny’s partnership feels almost stifling. Next time though, could it let in a bit more sunshine through the darkness? [Series 4 finale](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/unforgottens-cassie-and-sunny-a-love-story/), and nine months later, after several interim bosses, Sunny has a new guv in the form of Sinead Keenan’s DCI Jessica James. Every opportunity is taken to decry the effects of austerity on the UK’s public services, and to highlight the country’s changing context post-the 2016 EU Referendum. Budget cuts, under-resourced public sector workers, the closure of libraries, and the household fallacy are all called out, while racial inequality, the poverty gap, and establishment boys’ clubs become central to the plot. Series 5, a story about addiction and violence that opens with the discovery of a human leg theorised to have been chewed off by rats, is no different. It’s hostility and lies from the suspects, and more of the same back at the office. They uncovered terrible truths and lived difficult home lives, but they did it together, with a kindness for victims that leavened the sadness. As a result, there’s no safe harbour for viewers for most of Series 5. Before all that transpires though, James’ cold and distracted start sets her in opposition to Sunny, Fran, Murray and Kaz (Lewis Reeves, who plays Jake, doesn’t appear this time around).

Sarah Kennedy gives us her verdict on the first episode of the new series of Unforgotten and that cast change.

It’s a brave choice to continue without your lead, and make a significant change nearly a decade after the show originally began. The new boss is the subject of many eye rolls and knowing looks between Murray, Fran and Sunny when what the team will have to do is prove their worth. It’s not a 70 year old crime, as Jessie first suspects, so meets her new stringent requirements of the cases they take on. She’s a difficult person to like, and an abrasive lead for the tight-knit team to butt up against. Is there anything more dread-inducing than the weight of expectations when you have a new job and enormously big shoes to fill? Her character and the show have a lot in common.

Season 5 of the hit ITV crime drama has just landed on our screens, but can we expect another? Sinead Keenan as DCI Jessie James and Sanjeev Bhaskar as DI Sunny ...

But how about a re-watch of the season 5 trailer to whet your appetite for now? Is it the end of the road for Sal and Sunny? No there isn't, seeing as season 6 is yet to actually be confirmed. On the set of Unforgotten season 5, he teased to [RadioTimes.com](https://radiotimes.com/) and other press that the dynamic between DCI James and [DI Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar)](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/unforgotten-sanjeev-bhaskar-sunny-backpack-newsupdate/) could very well be making a return. [subscribe now](http://radiotimes.com/magazine-subscription?utm_term=evergreen-article). What we do know is that a potential season 6 will naturally pick up probably with the personal dramas of both Jessica and Sunny. Jessica's mother even reminds her that Steve loves her, so it very well could be water under the bridge for season 6. Although Tony did seem to be remorseful (and obviously confessed to the crime knowing that he didn't shoot Joseph), could a life in prison lead to him withdrawing his confession or perhaps using his powerful connections to get him out of prison? He was struggling so much that we even saw him pen a resignation letter in the first episode. However, he did tease that if there were to be a season 6, he would love to return. Similarly, there's the big question of whether Michelle Bonnard would return as Sal, after her and Sunny's tumultuous time in season 5. So, could Tony return for season 6?