Spoiler warning: This article contains spoilers for Unforgotten season five.
ITV has announced a sixth season of crime drama Unforgotten is coming soon. With more cold cases and dimensional characters, the next season will see us delve back into the tumultuous working lives of detective duo DCI Jess James, played by Sinead Keenan, and DI ‘Sunny’ Khan, starring Sanjeev Bhaskar.
After the tragic exit of pivotal character DCI Cassie Stuart (Nicola Walker), Jess James had big shoes to fill striding into the role of Detective Chief Inspector. Season five cultivated a dynamic (albeit frosty) relationship between Sunny and his new DCI as they peeled back the layers of yet another historic case. Season five was centred around the victim, Precious Falade, whose remains are found contorted inside the breast of a chimney within a rundown residential building.
As per the formatting of the previous seasons, the most recent series saw the audience view a series of cameos depicting the lives of an interlocking web of eclectic characters, within which a murderous spider has managed to conceal itself. However, in a shocking twist, we found the wrong man, Lord Anthony Hume (Ian McElhinney), convicted of Precious’ murder when the true killer has been dead for years. In a twisted angel of mercy storyline, Jay Royce (Rhys Yates), an undocumented son of Precious, constructs an elaborate facade for the police to get the former politician a taste of his own corrupt poison.
Unforgotten can definitively be described as a firm favourite amongst crime drama enthusiasts. This latest season hit eight million viewers per episode, becoming the most popular programme streaming on ITVX at the time of release. Creator Chris Lang, certainly sees a bright future for the franchise, stating, “as long as people keep watching it, we can keep making it well.”
Lang is an established screenwriter known for his work on The Thief, The Wife and His Canoe. During an interview with Radio Times on the set of season five, he expressed that he already has raw potential for the plot of season six: “I’ve got a season six in my head. So yeah, it’s down to the broadcaster, whether they asked me to do it.”
So, what can we expect next? So far, we know the main body of the cast will return along with new faces, formulating a new historical crime for eager spectators to sink their curious teeth into.
All seasons of Unforgotten are available to stream now on ITVX.
Words by Phoebe Coombes
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.