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PAULA MALCOMSON STARS AS A DEDICATED POLICE OFFICER TAKING ON A VERY PERSONAL CASE…
I’ve actually wanted to play a cop for ages – and I’ve fantasised about writing my own cop show, too,” shares Paula Malcomson – star of The Hunger Games movies – as she makes a dramatic return to the small screen as DI Colette Cunningham in this brand-new six-part police drama series. “Colette is such a strong and interesting character who has a gift for the job, and I also really love that this is a story about a woman in her
fifties who has been here and done it – she’s the boss and can lean on her experience.
“I hope the audience will think it’s nice to see a woman who’s not a movie star, being afforded the opportunity to play a role like this.”
The dedicated officer is in the middle of a making a swift and efficient arrest in Liverpool when she receives a call from Garda Sergeant Luke Byrne in Dublin, informing her that the body of a young woman has been found – with Colette listed as next of kin. It transpires the victim is Colette’s long-lost daughter, Kate, who she’s not seen since Kate left home at 16.
“Colette hasn’t seen or heard from Kate in 20 years,” reveals Paula. “And there’s this sense that Colette has spent that time dedicated to the pursuit of being the best cop she can be. But there’s this boxed-off part of her and that’s the story – this unveiling of her feelings. She’s a survivor, but there’s a great deal of regret and recrimination that plays into who she is now.”
Arriving in Dublin to identify Kate’s body, Colette meets her teenage grandchildren – Liam and Cara – for the first time. And with all of their lives turned upside down, Colette resolves to stay in Ireland, via transfer to the local Garda. But as she pledges to do the right thing by her daughter and her grandkids, a difficult and dangerous road lies ahead…
“Colette is essentially investigating not just her
COLETTE HASN’T HEARD FROM KATE IN 20 YEARS”
daughter’s death, but her life as well,” explains Paula of the series, which also stars Derry Girls’ Siobhán McSweeney as Colette’s boss, plus Thaddea Graham and Keith McErlean as her Garda colleagues. “She has a need to find the answers about what has happened to Kate – she knows she’s messing with the wrong people and she’s up to her neck in danger, but she can’t help herself. Solving the murder becomes everything to Colette.”