The much-loved gaffer was killed off at the end of the last series, but Chris Lang’s show is as taut and tense and pleasurable as ever
I love Unforgotten wholeheartedly. It’s the meat and two veg of television crime dramas. Every one of its four series so far has served up a rock-solid mystery, establishing a historical murder case and solving it within six tense, taut weeks. It may not have an HBO hiss at the start, or an A-lister in a leading role, but this is television to savour.
Of course, the drama begins its fifth series under a giant cloud in the shape of Nicola Walker. It ended its last run by bumping off the much-loved gaffer, Cassie Stuart, killing her in a car crash after a bout of work-related burnout and exhaustion. Hers is such a big chair to fill that many thought the series would end for good, but the creator, Chris Lang, has chosen to continue, taking a grieving Sunny Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar) into a Cassie-less future.