BritBox hit Karen Pirie is back after a three-year hiatus for season 2, with another cold case. Outlander’s Lauren Lyle returns in her BAFTA Scotland award-winning role as DI Karen Pirie. The “tartan noir” genre is in full swing, which will appeal to fans who are waiting for the next installment of Shetland to air.
As before, there will be three two-hour episodes in Karen Pirie season 2. The case will span two timelines, showing us past events and revealing Karen's ability to solve the cold case.
Karen Pirie season 2 involves an heiress and her kidnapped son
In 1984, Catroina Grant, an oil heiress, and her son were brutally abducted at gunpoint from a fish and chips shop. The investigation was flawed, and the case was never solved, and it is now considered one of the biggest cold cases in the nation’s history. Fresh evidence comes to light, and the case is handed over to Pirie and her team to reopen the investigation.
The trailer seems to show that a series of flashbacks and a found videotape will be integral in solving the murder, much like the original season. Phil Parhatka (Zach Wyatt), the ambitious DS in season 1 and Karen’s love interest, makes a return. Chris Jenks as DC Jason “Mint” Murray rounds out DI Pirie’s team. The legendary Scottish actor James Cosmo (Braveheart, Shetland) plays Sir Broderick Grant, and Frances Tomelty plays Mary Grant, Catroina’s parents.
In the Karen Pirie BritBox trailer, there promises to be a lot of secrets and action at the heart of the case. Karen isn’t put off, saying, “You can’t see time as a barrier, you see it as an opportunity”. The team works hard to gather evidence from the past despite Catroina’s family seeming to be part of the mystery.
This season was filmed in Scotland and Malta and was based on the novel A Darker Domain by Val McDermid. The series was released in the UK in July but will air on BritBox in the U.S. on October 2, 2025. There will be three 90-minute episodes airing weekly on Thursdays.
Karen Pirie season 1 recap: DI Pirie's original cold case
In season 1, Pirie solved the cold case of a waitress, Rosie, who was murdered in 1995, and three students were investigated, but the case was never solved. The students appeared to be hiding something, including an interracial romance that biased the case. Pirie uncovered the flawed investigation, upsetting the original officer, DS Jimmy Lawson.
The series concluded with the shocking discovery that Lawson had a relationship with the underage Rosie at the time, gathered from paint evidence found on her sweater. Rosie had his baby, and an enraged Lawson murdered her when she tried to move on with a different man.
Karen Pirie season 2 will premiere on BritBox on October 2, 2025
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