Stepping in to replace a well-loved character is always going to be tough for actors and the new lead in ITV's Unforgotten almost didn't take up her latest role as she didn't want to "replace" the former star. For six years since 2015, Nicola Walker played the lead role of DCI Cassie Stuart in ITV's Unforgotten but she has now stepped away from the show, with Little Boy Blue and Being Human star, Sinead Keenan picking up the mantle of detective on the cold case whodunnit.
In the previous series Nicola's character Cassie was killed in a car crash when physically and emotionally drained Cassie was not paying attention to the road. Now, Irish actress Sinead is taking the lead role alongside Sanjeev Bhaskar and she will play the new character DCI Jessica James.
Speaking on ITV's This Morning, Sinead said one of the things that put her off taking the role, was replacing Nicola Walker. She told hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield that after watching Nicola leave the series she'd thought to herself "Woe betide anyone who takes that on".
