SUSPICIOUS MINDS
KATHERINE KELLY is the victim of a miscarriage of justice in a twistladen murder mystery
HOW DO YOU rebuild your life after spending five years in prison for a crime you didn’t commit? That’s the premise of ITV’S compelling thriller
Innocent, which returns for a new four-part run this week.
The first series saw Lee Ingleby as a husband who was wrongly accused of killing his wife. Now, the second instalment features a new story and cast, and sees Katherine Kelly take centre stage as teacher Sally Wright, who was found guilty of the murder of one of her students, 16-year-old Matty Taylor, whom she was also suspected of grooming.
As the drama begins, fresh evidence has come to light that proves Sally’s innocence and she is freed. Returning to her Lake District home town of Keswick, her only aim is to pick up the pieces of her life, but that proves challenging as her ex-husband, Sam (Jamie Bamber), is about to remarry and Sally’s school refuses to reinstate her, while gossip is still circulating about whether she groomed Matty.
Meanwhile, dogged DCI Mike Braithwaite (Shaun Dooley) has reopened the case and is on a mission to find out who really killed the teenager. But as suspicion casts a shadow across the whole town, can the truth finally be uncovered?
We spoke to Kelly, 41, most recently seen in Criminal and
Liar, to find out more…
WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT SALLY? She’s grieving for what she’s missed, but she’s not going to be held back. She’s steely and wants to reclaim her life and she does that in a very real, traumatised, vulnerable way. Sally’s made a choice to not be angry. I’ve recognised that in women in my life – stuff has happened but they just get on with it. I haven’t seen that much in a heroine on screen. Sally has a quiet strength and I wanted to play her because of that.
HOW DIFFICULT IS IT FOR HER TO SETTLE BACK INTO HER OLD LIFE?
To have been wrongly accused of something is hard to deal with. She’s cleared of murder, but the rumours about her and Matty are still rife. She has been tried by the press, and people in her small community have made their minds up, too. That’s intensely frustrating.
WHAT IS HER RELATIONSHIP LIKE WITH HER EX-HUSBAND, SAM?
It’s sad and frozen in time for her. Sally’s been immensely hurt that he’s turned his back on her. She’s hoping that everything can go back to the way it was but he’s moved on and she finds that hard to accept. He was the only man for her – that’s what’s got her through those five years in prison – and she’ll fight for that until the very end.
HOW DOES THE NEW INVESTIGATION INTO MATTY’S DEATH AFFECT HER?
In the first series, Lee Ingleby’s character came out of prison and was pushing forward the investigation. Whereas what I like about this is that Sally knew Matty, so she’s going to help, but she just wants to integrate herself back into the community and the driving force is the police. There are no goodies and baddies, though. Everybody’s flawed and going through difficult times.
WAS THERE ANY RESEARCH YOU COULD DO?
Louis Theroux has done documentaries about Amy Beck [a US teacher jailed for unlawful sexual intercourse with a 14-yearold student]. I found it interesting seeing her, although obviously she was guilty. There’s also a great C4 series, Prison, about a women’s prison where one character is upbeat and cracks on with life, but you can see what she’s been through. I was fascinated.
THE SERIES WAS SHOT IN THE LAKE DISTRICT AND IRELAND. WHAT WAS THAT LIKE?
We filmed for about 10 days in the Lakes, but the bulk of filming was in Ireland as the terrain is similar. I’m half-irish, my dad’s from there and my hotel was overlooking Dun Laoghaire harbour. I sent a picture to my dad and he replied. ‘That’s the harbour that I left from, with my mum and dad, with a suitcase each in 1953.’
That was quite something!
‘Sally has a quiet strength and I wanted to play her because
of that’
KATHERINE KELLY