Nicola Walker Talks Breaking the Rules with 'Annika'

Nicola Walker’s exit from Unforgotten at the end of Season 4 was quickly soothed by the announcement she was leading a new detective series, Annika, where she played the titular DI Annika Strandhed, a wry, speedboat-driving book nerd just hired as the lead of Glasgow’s Marine Homicide Unit. Season 1’s arrival in 2022, first on PBS Passport for members and then on linear that fall, introduced the character as a woman juggling a new city, a caseload as large as her to-be-read pile, and a rebellious teenage daughter who was less than thrilled with the relation from Stockholm to Scotland.

With Season 2 now underway on PBS’ Masterpiece and all six episodes streaming on PBS Passport, viewers are again plunged into the world of crimes on water as Annika and her team work to solve a new set of cases. Walker is once again joined by Silvie Furneaux (Vigil) as her daughter, Morgan, plus Katie Dickie (Game of Thrones) as boss DCI Diane Oban, Jamie Sives (Guilt) as DS Michael McAndrews, Katie Leung (Roadkill) as DC Blair Ferguson, Ukweli Roach (Grantchester) as DS Tyrone Clarke, and Varada Sethu (Mrs Sidhu Investigates) as DC Harper Weston, the newcomer to the team.

With the new season featuring Annika trying to work up the nerve to admit that her long-buried secrets are about to force her work life and home life to collide in a very uncomfortable way, Walker sat down with Telly Visions to discuss her quirky character, breaking the fourth wall, the fun of filming straight to camera, and what she hopes viewers will take away from the new show.