The new series of Unforgotten has kicked off on ITV, marking Sinéad Keenan's first appearance on the beloved crime drama.
In the dramatic season 4 finale, fans were devastated after DCI Cassie Stuart (Nicola Walker) was killed off, leaving those around her grief stricken, including her long-time work partner DI Sunny Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar).
Although she was an important part of the police force, they needed someone new to step in, and the first episode of Unforgotten season 5 welcomed DCI Jessica James (Sinéad Keenan) to our screens.
It wasn't an easy first day for Jessica, who had the role sprung on her and made some mistakes during the investigation, including being incredibly rude to a building owner after his room became a crime scene, rubbing her colleagues the wrong way.
On top of this, Jessica's got some problems at home as she's just found out her husband was having an affair and is going on a business trip, leaving her alone with their two young sons, on top of taking on a demanding new role.
Having a new boss has proven challenging for Sunny especially, who is yet to warm to the new DCI and is clearly still missing Cassie. Things turned even frostier when the two disagreed on a cold case, with Sunny wanting to investigate it and Jessica wanting to throw it out.
Even on screen, Sinéad Keenan knows the role she's taking on, as her character tells Sunny: "I’m aware of the boots I’m filling. I sincerely hope to do her and the rest of the team justice."
She hasn't convinced her colleagues yet, however, those watching at home are impressed with her performance so far and have taken to Twitter to praise the new DCI with one even hailing her "Sinéad Queenan"!
@SineadKeenan…more like Sinéad QUEENAN 👑💙 Great debut and a cracking series opener 😁 #Unforgotten pic.twitter.com/WyZSZW3XFHFebruary 27, 2023
It’s a mix of emotions for DCI James. Yeah, I’m liking her character. This is going to be very interesting. #UnforgottenFebruary 27, 2023
So far I'm loving it,@TVSanjeev is such a wonderful actor,so warm. Wonderful in Yesterday and brilliant as Sunni. Gotta say @SineadKeenan is very good,very good indeed as DCI James. #UnforgottenFebruary 27, 2023
A lot of love (understandably) out there for Nicola Walker but have got to say that Sinead Keenan showed what a tremendous actress she is.#unforgotten5 #Unforgotten #nicolawalker #sineadkeenan pic.twitter.com/P5kpMHcwEvFebruary 27, 2023
wasn’t sure how it could possibly work without #Cassie but @TVSanjeev and his new boss seems like it might just work #unforgotten absolutely loving new series Sanjeev really is an incredible actorFebruary 28, 2023
But while she's got the thumbs up from viewers, Jessica James will have to work harder to get in Sunny's good books, as the two really aren't getting along. Even worse, Sunny has already drafted a resignation letter as he can't seem to shake Cassie's absence. He's still grieving and buys two coffees out of habit, so it's going to take a while to process things.
We'll have to tune in to next week's episode to see if their dynamic has improved in any way!
Unforgotten season 5 continues on ITV1 at 9 pm on Monday, March 6. Alternatively, episodes are available on demand via ITVX.
