'Karen Pirie' Season 2 Filming Finally Underway in Scotland

It has been a very long minute since we last heard anything about Karen Pirie, the series based on Val McDermid's mystery novel series of the same name. Though McDermid's books are no stranger to TV (Karen Pirie is the fourth adaptation from her work), ITV seemed strangely hesitant to renew the show, considering it was a smash hit on the U.K. side of the pond and as much of a hit on BritBox as could be expected in the crowded landscape of Peak TV's 2022.

But that hesitancy is nothing on how long it took filming to get underway. The series was commissioned in February 2023, and here we are with filming at last confirmed to have begun...seventeen months later, in July 2024. The news was almost buried under the crush of election prep announcements ITV was doing at the time as well, as the snap election was only days away at that point and already looking to be a historic event.

But despite the fact that everyone seems determined to keep this one under wraps, Lauren Lyle is returning as the titular Scottish detective, and her next adventure will follow the same trajectory as McDermid's novels. Season 1 covered the first Karen Pirie novel, A Distant Echo; Season 2 will continue the stories in order, with the show adapting the second Pirie book, A Darker Domain.