The stars of graced on Friday, revealing behind-the-scenes details of the beloved ITV crime drama. Sinead Keenan, who joined the cast in the previous series as DCI Jessica James, shared an intriguing family tie within the show.
Sinead stepped into the role following the departure of ‘s character, DCI Cassie Stuart, who met a tragic end in the fourth series. Sinead’s character, Jessie, initially clashed with DI Sunny Khan (played by Sanjeev Bhaskar), and as the plot unfolded, viewers learned of turmoil in Jessie’s personal life when it was disclosed that her husband Steve James (portrayed by Andrew Lancel) had been unfaithful with someone shockingly close to home.
On The One Show, Sinead divulged that the actress playing her on-screen sister Debbie, entangled in the affair, is actually her real-life sister, Grainne Keenan.
Host Roman Kemp, alongside Clara Amfo, expressed his astonishment at the casting: “This is such a mind boggle moment but in the last series your character Jess finds out that her husband is having an affair with her sister but your sister in the show is played by your actual sister in real life. Safe to say, not real-life husband? That would be horrendous! But how fun is it to play this out with her? “
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Unforgotten’s Sinead Keenan and co-star Sanjeev Bhaskar on The One Show (Image: BBC)
Sinead responded enthusiastically: “Oh it’s great, it’s great – thankfully that has never happened in real life so it was lovely. We’ve been in the same shows through our careers but our characters never met, crossed paths, so yeah that was real good fun.”
Meanwhile, Sanjeev Bhaskar chatted about Sunny’s famous backpack. Beloved for his portrayal since the crime drama’s debut in 2015, the 61-year-old actor returns to screens with series 6 on ITV1 beginning February 9, .
Yet, it’s not just his performance that has captured viewers’ attention; Sunny’s ever-present black bag has sparked curiosity.
Sanjeev explained his unique approach to the prop, saying, “From the second series onwards, I asked the costume department to fill it with stuff, but don’t tell me what’s in it.”
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The new series begins with the discovery of suspected human remains. Jess and Sunny are called to the crime scene at Whitney Marsh, abandoning their evening plans, much to the annoyance of Jess’ husband Steve.
Dr Balcombe’s expert analysis of the human spine shows that the remains are relatively recent, and she believes the body was already dismembered when it was dumped. Armed with this knowledge, Jess and Sunny begin to search the area believing that other body parts may not be too far away.
As the investigation unfolds, viewers will be introduced to a whole host of new intriguing characters. MyAnna Buring stars as Melinda Ricci, an outspoken television commentator based in Ireland; Max Fairley is Martin Baines, an autistic man who lives with his mother in Kent; Elham Elas plays Asif Syed, an Afghan training for his UK citizenship test; and Victoria Hamilton is Juliet Cooper, a history lecturer and faculty head at a London University.
The One Show is on One weeknights at 7pm and on iPlayer