'Unforgotten' Season 6 Celebrates the Start of Filming with First Photos

Unforgotten's transfer of power from Nicola Walker to Sinead Keenan was a bit of a nail-biter for the production and fans alike. The series, one of the most popular mysteries in the PBS lineup and on ITV, seemed to hinge on Walker's charisma and her chemistry with co-lead Sanjeev Bhaskar as her partner-in-crime solving, Sunny Khan. However, the move turned out to be a win-win for everyone: Walker's new show, Annika, was a smash hit, and Unforgotten's ratings soared as viewers tuned in to see how Sunny handled his new boss, Keenan's Jesse James, leading iTV to renew the series months before it aired on PBS.

That head start renewing the show gave Unforgotten's writer, Chris Lang, a headstart on penning scripts, allowing preproduction to get underway quickly. The result is that despite there usually being an eighteen-month gap between seasons here in the States, filming for the next season is already underway in the U.K., less than six months after Season 5's conclusion. The whole cast, including Keenan and Bhaskar, attended the table read, with ITV releasing images from it on March 12, 2024, to mark the occasion. 

In the press release, Lang said: "I'm incredibly excited to be about to start filming the sixth series of Unforgotten, with a story that has been gestating for nearly eight years, since 23rd June 2016, when our country seemed to fracture in two. The U.K., and indeed the world, has today never seemed more divided, and series six attempts to try and understand how we got to where we are now and, perhaps more importantly, where we can go from here."

The first page, of course, is the series regulars. It is nice to see all the usual suspects lined up to return for Season 6, including fan favorites Carolina Main as DC Fran Lingley, Jordan Long as DS Murray Boulting, Pippa Nixon as DC Karen 'Kaz' Willetts, and Georgia McKenzie as Leanne Balcombe. Kate Robbins and Andrew Lancel also return as Jessie's mother, Kate, and husband, Steve, respectively.

However, one guest star is easily visible on the top sheet: MyAnna Buring (The Responder). According to ITV, the ones that are harder to read (or on page two) who will be joining her are Victoria Hamilton (COBRA), Jan Francis (I Want My Wife Back), Damien Molony (Ripper Street), Elham Elas (Young Wallander), and newcomer Max Fairley.

As for Season 6's mystery, as Lang said above, this is a story he's been working on since 2016, when the Brexit referendum was initially passed. 

The new season will see Jess and Sunny investigating when suspected human remains are discovered on Whitney Marsh. It soon becomes clear that the remains are relatively recent, and that the body was put there already dismembered. Meanwhile, we’re introduced to outspoken TV commentator Melinda Ricci, Martin ‘Marty’ Baines, an autistic man who lives with his mother, Asif Syed, an Afghan who is training for his UK citizenship test, and history lecturer and faculty head Juliet Cooper. Jess, Sunny and their team must unravel their connections to find out the truth.

As usual, Lang wrote all six episodes, with director Andy Wilson helming all installments. Lang executive produces with Sally Haynes and Laura Mackie. The series is co-produced by Mainstreet with Masterpiece in association with BBC Studios, with Huw Kennair-Jones overseeing the production on behalf of ITV. 

Unforgotten Season 6 does not yet have a release date on either side of the pond, but it is currently expected in late 2024 or early 2025. Seasons 1-5 are streaming on PBS Passport and the PBS Masterpiece Channel.