Crime drama brings Jess close to home

A FORMER Holmfirth pupil has a role in an eagerly-awaited BBC drama starting tonight.

Jess Gunning, who attended Holmfirth High School, plays Det Insp Sophie Carson in the BBC One drama In The Dark which begins at 9pm.

The four-part series also stars MyAnna Buring and Ben Batt.

It was almost a homecoming for Jess, as filming took place in Marsden and Manchester.

Jess, who grew up in Holmfirth, went to Kirkroyds Infant School and Wooldale Junior School before moving to Holmfirth High.

She was involved with the Cragrats theatre company. She then studied drama, English, law and psychology at Greenhead College.

In The Dark was filmed last year in Marsden and over the Pennines in Manchester.

Jess’s character Det Insp Carson is first seen outside a house in the fictional Derbyshire village of Polesford which is actually on Dirker Avenue in Marsden.

The Riverhead Brewery, Post Office, Best One shop and Argyle Street all make it onto the small screen.

Jess’s previous acting credits include ITV’s Jericho, which was filmed in the Colne Valley, where she played prostitute Mabel.

She also appeared in the gritty Sky Atlantic drama Fortitude, Law and Order UK, Prime Suspect and the miners’ strike film Pride, named best film at the British Independent Film Awards. In 2012 she was one of the main characters in White Heat – a six part BBC TV drama following the lives of a group of students from the 1960s.