Many ITV viewers were left with a few issues as Grace returned to ITV last Sunday. Firstly, what happened in the first series and why was there only ever one episode shown?
It was just over a year ago that former star of The Lakes and Life On Mars, John Simm, made his debut in the role of new on-screen alias Detective Superintendent Roy Grace and on Sunday night, after a few weeks of teaser adverts, he is back to lead the Grace cast as the crime drama returns for a new series. When quizzed on how he felt about taking a role which he could end up keeping for years, depending on the show's success, John said: "In this day and age, we should be thankful to be working, and when this role came to me straight after the pandemic, I was just so keen to work.
"Maybe if I was younger, it might have been a thing – back then, I didn't want to hang around projects for too long because I wanted to do different stuff, but I've been doing this job for 30 odd years. I've played loads of different characters, and I'm sure there'll be loads more coming up, I'll do other things as well."
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He added: "But Roy Grace is such an intriguing part and to have the whole world of the novels to immerse myself in has been invaluable. I'm more than happy to keep playing him if people want to keep watching the show."
Grace returned to ITV on Sunday, April 24 at 8pm. And just like fellow ITV crime drama Vera, it was for a run of feature length episode,s running until 10pm. If you're needing a refresher on what happened last year, when series 1 had just one episode, here's a reminder.
What happened in Grace series one?
His first case saw Grace attempt to get to the bottom of the disappearance of a groom, Michael, who went missing on his stag do. In a scene that had many viewers complaining that they'd been left feeling very claustrophobic, Michael was put in a coffin by his friends with just a small tube sticking out of it so he could breathe. However, viewers were then horrified when someone came out of nowhere to pull the tube out, as Michael panicked inside the coffin.
Things took a much darker turn as time flashed forward to DS Grace stuck in traffic due to a road accident, which turned out to be one involving the stag party's van, with several of the men killed. The search and investigation into Michael's disappearance uncovered multiple lines of inquiry which included his bride and best friend and business partner.
While the episode that aired last Sunday night, Looking Good Dead, was actually ready to air last year as part of series one, it will instead be the first part of series two, despite already airing in the US last year.
