Karen Pirie season two

Karen Pirie’s second season marks a confident step forward for its eponymous lead, newly promoted to detective inspector and finally wielding the authority she’s long fought for. Lauren Lyle’s portrayal matures beautifully, and her Pirie is no longer the tentative figure of series one, but someone who commands respect and drives the investigation with steely determination.

The reopened case at the heart of the drama – the 1984 kidnapping of oil heiress Catriona Grant and her toddler son Adam – serves as the catalyst for Pirie’s transformation. The show uses this decades-old mystery not just to unravel the crime but to expose the media’s insidious role in twisting narratives. The press are portrayed less as impartial observers and more as ravenous forces, manipulating witnesses, buying leaks, and reshaping stories to suit their own ends. It’s a stark reminder of how the pursuit of headlines often sidelines the investigation itself.

The 1984 storyline is rendered with meticulous attention to detail, thoughtfully capturing Scotland’s political unrest and social upheaval. The miners’ strike looms large in the background, its class tensions reverberating through the present-day investigation. More than a mere setting, this period serves as a lens through which Karen Pirie examines Scotland’s deeply entrenched class divisions.

Beyond these social tensions, one of the season’s most striking motifs is the architectural symbolism surrounding the Grant family home. The old, stately manor they occupied in 1984 – grand, imposing and steeped in tradition – is sharply contrasted with the sleek, glass-walled modern house Karen visits decades later. The latter feels almost too transparent – a literal glasshouse and a jarring emblem of the family’s attempt to escape their past.

What begins as a straightforward whodunit evolves into a far more complex narrative, exposing how the past stubbornly clings to the present and revealing unsettling truths about who wields power and how history is often rewritten – or conveniently buried. As the truth unfolds, it becomes clear this is not merely a search for justice for the victims but a reckoning with a legacy that refuses to be forgotten. In doing so, Karen Pirie transcends the procedural mould in its second season, becoming a poignant exploration of how truth is brokered rather than discovered in a world shaped by wealth, legacy and media spin.

Christina Yang

Karen Pirie season two is released on ITVX on 20^th July 2025.

Watch the trailer for Karen Pirie season two here: