Top Telly - ITV series Blue Murder

The episodes see Janine juggling the demands of her hectic home-life with running an under-pressure murder investigation team. Janine’s close to her team and the sharp sense of humour among them helps to preserve her sanity and theirs. Solving murders at work and screaming blue murder at home, it’s a tough life and it’s about to get tougher – can Janine hold it all together?

DI Richard Mayne (Ian Kelsey) finds himself supporting Janine both at home and at work as she struggles to cope after the departure of ex-husband Pete who has built a life for him and his new family in Spain. As this story develops, Janine finds herself making some tough decisions about her future career.

Guest starring in the first episode entitled ‘Having it All’ is Chris Gascoyne as Alan Gaskell, a downtrodden husband of cheerleading coach Helen Gaskell (Carolyn Backhouse), who is murdered the morning after her team fails to qualify for the National Cheerleading Championships. With passions running high, the detectives have no shortage of suspects, most notably her sister Anita (Siobhan Finneran) with whom she had a longstanding and bitter rivalry and her niece Jess (Holliday Granger) who has more than cheerleading on her mind.

Mark Benton and Lee Boardman guest star in Episode two, ‘Inside’, which sees Richard risk everything to go undercover in a prison to solve a 14-year-old murder case. In the third episode, ‘Tooth & Claw’, the team venture into the north Manchester hills, when a murder takes place at a Veterinary Practice in a secluded village.

In her first role since Coronation Street, Tina O’Brien guest stars as Amy Kirkland, the girlfriend of a murdered rock star, who becomes a prime suspect for DCI Janine Lewis in episode four, ‘This Charming Man’.

The final two episodes, ‘Private Sins’ is a two part special, in which a private detective is found dead in a multi story car park. Everyone involved seems to have something to hide and as the case develops DS Shap’s (Nicholas Murchie) career hangs in the balance due to his increasingly erratic behaviour – what is he keeping from the team and why?

Paul Loughran returns as DS Butchers and Belinda Everett joins the regular cast as Kat, a young, feisty detective who quickly fits in with the friendly banter of the team.

Other guest stars in the series include; Siobhan Finneran, Mark Benton, Lee Boardman, Brendan Coyle, Anthony Flanagan, Chris Coghill, Sylvia Sims and Kieran O’Brien.

Blue Murder creator Cath Staincliffe has again written one of the new stories, along with writers Steve Griffiths, Neil Jones, Susan Oudot and Elizabeth-Anne Wheal.

Episode Guide Series 5 (2009) >>

Blue Murder starring Caroline Quentin

Murder investigations by DCI Janine Lewis

Starring Caroline Quentin, Ian Kelsey, Paul Loughran and Belinda Everitt