Unforgotten’s Sanjeev Bhaskar teases “unique” mystery for season 5

Bhaskar spoke with RadioTimes.com and other press about the new case while on set for season 5.

By James Hibbs

Published: Thursday, 23 February 2023 at 12:00 am

As Unforgotten season 5 approaches, all eyes are unsurprisingly on new DCI Jessica James, played by Sinéad Keenan and replacing Nicola Walker’s Cassie Stuart – however, there is of course still a case to crack.

When it comes to this season’s case, we know that it will see the team investigating when a severed leg is discovered inside a chimney. However, DI Sunny Khan star Sanjeev Bhaskar has also teased that it will be a unique mystery when compared with previous seasons.

Speaking with RadioTimes.com and other press while on set for the new episodes, Bhaskar said: “The thing that’s unique about this series, apart from Sinéad coming in and being brilliant in it, and a set of actors that come in who aren’t perhaps as well known to the public as in previous years, but are equally as good, is that the age range of the suspects is wider than we’ve had on any previous series. And that’s kind of interesting.”

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The cast of Unforgotten season 5.
Mainstreet for ITV

Bhaskar also teased that to reveal “the reason why it’s such a broad spread” would be “spoilery”, but he did say: “Once again it’s a disparate group of characters and you don’t know how they are connected. And once again, they have incredibly rich stories that we have to weed through.”

Meanwhile, the show’s creator Chris Lang also talked with RadioTimes.com and other press while on set about the “massive age range” of the suspects, explaining that they go “from mid to late 70s, down to 20 odd”.

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He continued: “They’re all extraordinary actors, and it’s been a joy to watch their rushes, particularly the last two or three weeks. We’re doing all the police interview stuff, so the last two weeks, I’ve just been watching those four characters getting grilled every which way.”

It sounds like Jessie and Sunny will have their hands full, but first they’ll need to get over their own personal issues. Keenan recently revealed that when the new partners first meet “it is loggerheads”. “It’s passive aggressive, jibes, in a way it’s jostling for position,” she explained.

The pair must hope they start getting on better by the end of the season, as Lang also revealed that he has already got plans for a potential sixth season of the hit detective drama.

“Certainly, if they asked me, I’d do a season 6. I’ve got a season 6 in my head. So yeah, it’s down to the broadcaster, whether they asked me to do it.”