BRING OUT THE DEAD

As the Cold Case Unit returns for its most harrowing cases yet, we join the cast on location to find out what's in store.

In a west London warehouse, a man in a white lab coat is decanting chemicals into bottles. Around the corner, there's the shocking spectacle of a naked corpse suspended from the ceiling .... We're on the set of crime drama Waking the Dead, which returns to our screens this week for four new two-part thrillers. The hanging man represents another puzzling murder for Peter Boyd (Trevor Eve) and company to investigate in this week's opening installments. Life isn't getting any easier for the crack forensics team of the Cold Case Unit. In last year's finale, Boyd had to cope with the death of his long-lost son Luke. Now, as the team reassemble at their old HQ to tackle more unsolved crimes, there's more suffering in prospect.'The overarching theme of this series is strong women facing adversity', reveals producer Colin Wratten. 'At the end of the first story, for example, Stella Goodman (Felicité Du Jeu) gets shot in the leg while trying to protect a woman from the man who abducted her.' Not surprisingly, Stella's wounding brings out the worst in crotchety Boyd, who is more concerned with the investigation than with her health. 'It's a poignant storyline, because Stella has always been so desperate to please Boyd,' explains Sue Johnston, who plays psychological profiler Grace Foley. 'She has never quite won his affection, so this time she tries even harder and he fails her right up to the last minute.' Grace has a few close calls of her own in the new series, including being kidnapped in the finale. 'As a psychologist, Grace is used to dealing with threatening people, so she's quite cool about it, actually,' says Johnston. 'But she's in a lot of pain at the time, so she's pretty out of it." Away from work, Grace receives some shocking personal news, revealed in the last episode, which, typically, she keeps from Boyd. 'She doesn't want it to affect him because he's on a case. These people are a bit crazy like that.' Elsewhere, we get a rare insight into the home life of pathologist Eve Lockhart (Tara Fitzgerald) when she falls for a mysterious new man. Meanwhile, Spence (Wil Johnson) is considering quitting the team to join the CID after some run-ins with Boyd. The series will feature cameos from Sharon Maughan (Trevor Eve's real-life wife) and Gina McKee, who appears in the finale as a temporary stand-in for Grace. There are also roles for Freefall star Joseph Mawle and Cranford actors Rory Kinnear and Michelle Dockery. Most worrying for Boyd, this series sees the return of Linda Cummings (Ruth Gemmell), the serial killer he locked away in series seven. 'She sends him a finger in the post with a note saying, "Whatever happened to Sandra White?" says Colin Wratten. 'The question is, how did a prisoner in a high-security mental hospital get hold of a finger and post it!" He's also still reeling from his son's death, says Wratten, but Boyd won't be taking it to work with him in the new series. 'That was such a powerful moment that we didn't want to dwell on it,' he says. 'It was a masterful performance from Trevor and hw was able to go to a very dark place for that scene. When I watched it, I thought: "That's it... We can't top that and we shouldn't try'".

The new arrival

The Cold Case Unit is set for a shake-up with the arrival of feisty Kat Howard (Stacey Roca from The Office), a police officer with a troubled career history. "She used to be a detective, but got busted down to uniform for insubordination,' says producer Colin Wratten. That gives you a little insight into what she's going to be like.' Howard is a peripheral figure in the opening episode, but puts herself on Boyd's radar by tipping the team off about a potential cold case. 'In the first episode, she's really just a plod', explains Wratten. 'But by the end of it, Boyd has recognized something in her.' As the series continues, Howard will become a more important figure in the team, bringing plenty of fizz to the cases. 'We've nick named her Tigger," Wratten smiles. 'She's young, enthusiastic and will bring lots of energy to the team.'