ITV's Unforgotten will return for third series

The return of this superior crime drama has been one of our highlights of the year so far, and now it’s bowing out with a typically stunning finale.

ITV announce the gripping cold case crime drama will return for a third series

Good news for fans of Unforgotten; the compelling crime drama has been given the green light for a third series.

The hit drama, which pulled in more than 6 million viewers for its second series that aired earlier this year, will return to our screens with Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar reprising their roles as detectives DCI Cassie Stuart and DI Sunil 'Sunny' Khan.

Now it’s been confirmed that the body in the suitcase is that of David Walker and his family have begun to deal with the news, Cassie and Sunny can finally get down to the nitty-gritty — Pictured : NICOLA WALKER as Cassie and SANJEEV BHASKAR as Sunny

The new six-part series will be written once again by Chris Lang and will see Cassie and Sunny delve into another intricate historical investigation, revealing a fresh web of long-buried secrets.

Writer and executive producer, Chris, said, "I am so excited to be making a third series of Unforgotten. To be able to bring back the exceptional team we had on series two (both in front of and behind the camera) and to be allowed to discover what the future holds for Cassie and Sunny as they tackle a new historical crime, is a real privilege.”

Series two saw the two detectives decide to walk away from a case after they discovered their murder suspects had all been victims of child sex abuse. The drama ended on a cliff-hanger with Cassie walking off into the night after making the agonising decision not to proceed , leaving viewers at home wondering what would unfold next.

Writer Chris made no secret of the fact he'd love there to be a follow up series. He said at the time, "I'd love to come back for another go, I'd like to do one more series, because I want to square various circles with Cassie and Sunny."

Speaking about the characters' decision to walk away from the case he added, "I don't think it's something that they will wear lightly. It's a secret that they now have and they will have to carry with them through their job."

The first series of this brilliantly compelling crime drama was one of the TV highlights of 2015, as viewers were left on the edge of their seats working out which one of a disparate group of suspects had committed a murder almost 40 years before. Now, dogged cops Cassie (Nicola Walker) and Sunny (Sanjeev Bhaskar) are back...

With a third series now in the offing viewers will be see just what ramifications there will be for the pair.

Both series one and two were praised for their sensitive handling of the hard-hitting storylines which saw particularly harrowing cold-cases re-opened and boasted a host of big-name British actors including Tom Courtenay, who won a BAFTA for his performance, Bernard Hill, Hannah Gordon, Peter Egan and Wendy Craig.

Unforgotten will be shown on ITV

Tess is a senior writer for What’s On TV, TV Times, TV & Satellite and WhattoWatch.com She's been writing about TV for over 25 years and worked on some of the UK’s biggest and best-selling publications including the Daily Mirror where she was assistant editor on the weekend TV magazine, The Look, and Closer magazine where she was TV editor. She has freelanced for a whole range of websites and publications including We Love TV, The Sun’s TV Mag, Woman, Woman’s Own, Fabulous, Good Living, Prima and Woman and Home.