Nicola Walker in Two British Dramas Airing Now

There’s a great article in The Daily Mail titled “Why the stars of our best TV dramas are suddenly all middle-aged women: At long last, this is grown-up television” that talks about many of my favorite actresses and shows – including Nicola Walker.

Nicola Walker is my particular topic today. Walker is currently starring in two British dramas showing in the UK. She plays a police officer in both. One is River from BBC One, which will be on Netflix internationally starting November 18. The other is Unforgotten. It’s currently on iTV. I don’t know if it will be brought across the pond. If I hear anything, I’ll let you know.

River

Let’s start with River. The 6 part series stars Stellan Skarsgård and Nicola Walker. Skarsgård is a melancholy, grieving cop named River. Walker is his former partner DS Jackie “Stevie” Stevenson. Former partner (spoiler alert) in this case meaning Stevie is dead and gone. She’s gone for everyone but River, who sees her and other characters he’s investigating. River interacts with these “manifestations” as if they were there.

Real life Stevie was sassy and saucy and bright. River carries on conversations with her, listens to her sing, but seems insane to those around him. Most people would consider him insane. The only reason he’s still with the police is his 80% rate of closing crimes.

River was written by Abi Morgan.

Here’s the trailer.

Unforgotten

In Unforgotten, Walker is the lead character, a compassionate police officer who lives with her father. She’s investigating a decades old crime in which the bones of a young man are found under a demolished house. Sanjeev Bhaskar is her partner. Chris Lang is the creator of this 6 part drama.

As DCI Cassie Stuart, Walker plays a character who is quiet and thoughtful. She runs her department with calm, rewarding good work with generous praise and sending officers to investigate with a minimum of fuss. We see her relationship with her father develop through the episodes, especially when her father reveals some long hidden secrets about her mother.

The 4 main suspects in the crime range through all aspects of British society. This series has a big cast with many faces you will probably recognize including Gemma Jones and Tom Courtenay.

Here’s the preview for Unforgotten.

Other than the fact that Nicola Walker does brilliant work in both series, the two stories have little in common. Well, she’s a cop in both series. I heartily recommend you watch them both if you get a chance.

Many people know Nicola Walker from her role as Ruth in MI5. She’s also been in recent favorites including Scott & Bailey and Last Tango in Halifax.