Outlander star Lauren Lyle is on a mission to make the name Karen “cool again”.
The actress will soon be seen as DS Karen Pirie in a new STV cold case murder drama based on Val McDermid’s series of novels about a young Scots female detective.
And she’s so taken with her character that she is determined to shake off any connotations about the name.
Lauren, best known for playing Marsali Fraser in Outlander, said: “My Karen is a super underestimated woman in a man’s world, with determination and outright fiery bravery to go out and do what she needs to do without relying on anyone.
“We are going to make Karens cool again.”
The name Karen has plummeted in popularity, due to negative associations on social media as someone who acts entitled.
Lauren’s drama series, filmed in Scotland and due to air in September, is being made by the same producers as hit shows Line of Duty and Bodyguard.
It is based on the Karen Pirie novel The Distant Echo.
In the first episode DS Pirie is tasked with reopening a historic murder investigation that has been the subject of a provocative true crime podcast.
Lauren, 29, who grew up in Glasgow and played a peace protester in BBC submarine drama Vigil, said she loved the pressure of playing the title role.
She told Glass Magazine: “There was this responsibility to lead a show. I had never done that before. I felt like I had hosted a party and I just wanted everyone to have fun.”
Crime writer Val is one of the country’s most celebrated writers and has sold over 17 million copies.
She has inspired some of TV’s biggest crime dramas.
ITV’s Wire in The Blood starring Robson Green was based on her Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series of novels and the forensic science series Traces, starring Martin Compston, was also based on one of her ideas.
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