Hit drama Marcella is back with a huge bang

She’s been off our screens for three years, but Marcella is coming back with a bang.

It’s all change for the troubled character too. The last time we saw her, she was in turmoil after discovering she had killed her own daughter.

Now she’s going undercover having adopted a new persona, that of dodgy Manchester cop Keira Devlin, who has relocated to Northern Ireland to explore her family’s roots.

In the UK we’re a little late to the party – the run has already been shown overseas – but Anna Friel, who plays Marcella, reckons the third series will have been worth the wait.

“I can’t wait for everyone to see it,” she grins. “Even if you haven’t watched the first two seasons, this one can be watched as a standalone. People across the world have watched season three and enjoyed it so much that they then went back and watched one and two. It’s created a different momentum.

“More people are watching box sets because they’re at home more. So it’s found a new audience as well, which is a really positive thing.”

Joining the cast is Amanda Burton, who is no stranger to the crime drama genre having starred in Silent Witness, The Helen West Casebook and The Commander.

She and Friel both made their names on much-missed Channel 4 soap Brookside, although Burton had left by the time Friel arrived.

Nevertheless, their shared experience helped them bond on set, while the fact that Burton was born and raised in Derry, as was her character, crime boss matriarch Katherine Maguire, added realism to her performance.

“With the body of work she has, she’s powerful, specific, strong,” adds Friel.

“I was really happy when I heard it was her I was going to be working with. You need to be really scared of the boss of the house and she does it tonally cleverly without having to push it.

“You don’t have to shout to be scary. She is 100 per cent Marcella’s most formidable adversary. They meet their match in each other.”

Perhaps more disturbingly, Marcella completely immerses herself in Keira’s personality, to the extent that the line between where Marcella stops and Keira starts begins to be blurred.

While her colleagues are concerned about the impact on her mental health, Marcella seems to regard it as a bonus.

“I think the fact that she gets to start again is a big plus for her,” explains Friel.

“She didn’t like who she was or what she did. Somehow, she gets to leave the guilt and the grief behind. What she should have done is go through very deep therapy and not blamed herself to the extent that she did.

“This is about her journey of how she gets herself better this time. This series is really about redemption.”

If you enjoy the first episode and can’t wait to see more, fret not – the rest of the run will be available on ITV Hub and BritBox once the final credits have rolled.

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