Waking the Dead - Series 6

[Jessie Wallace]

Wren Boys: Part One

Tara Fitzgerald joins the cast of the international, Emmy Award-winning Waking The Dead, which returns to investigate more dark, gripping tales of murder mystery.

Tara plays Eve, the team's new forensic scientist, who brings with her the resources of the UK's first and only Forensic Anthropology Observation Unit – or Body Farm, as it's commonly known – a unique facility providing controlled studies of human decomposition to determine time and manner of death.

In tonight's opener – the first of a two-parter – Boyd and his Cold Case team, Grace, Spence, Stella and Eve, investigate the death of a teenage boy found on a building site some years ago. Crucial evidence links the body found on the site with a badly injured teenager dumped at a hospital late one night. Boyd dispatches an unwilling Stella to dismantle a Catholic shrine close to the crime scene for evidence. The shrine and body dumpsite are on land owned by the nearby Abbey which is on a dissolution order. Boyd and his team find themselves investigating pagan and druid rituals, stigmata, Irish travellers and bare-knuckle boxing.

Trevor Eve plays Boyd, Sue Johnston plays Grace, Wil Johnson plays Spence, Felicite du Jeu plays Stella and Tara Fitzgerald plays Eve. The cast also features Daragh O'Malley as Sean Killigan Snr, Carey Mulligan as Sister Brigid, Tony Scannel as Papa McDonagh and Gabrielle Reidy as Nana McDonagh.

Special guest stars to look out for this series include: Alex Jennings, Polly Walker, Graham Crowden, Alison Doody, Oliver Ford Davies, James Fox, Jemma Redgrave, Michelle Forbes and Dame Eileen Atkins.

To complement the new series of Waking The Dead, the BBC is launching a groundbreaking interactive service which is available via broadband and the Red button. By pressing the Red button, or visiting the Waking The Dead website, viewers can discover more about the facts behind each story from the team of experts in forensic science and psychology who work alongside the production team.

[Jessie Wallace]

Deus Ex Machina: Part 1

Khaled Ahmad, a Sudanese politician in the UK, goes on hunger strike in protest at the UK's continued refusal to hand over the skull of the "Mahdi" – a Sudanese ruler from the 19th century – originally stolen from a Sudanese mausoleum by British Forces, in the first of a Waking The Dead two-parter.

Boyd and the Cold Case team are asked to investigate the current whereabouts of the skull so that UK authorities can return it to Sudan.

At the same time, a retired MI6 agent, Sir Cyril Barrett, asks Boyd to reopen the case of Omar Jaffiri, an Iraqi refugee found murdered in his London grocery shop 20 years previously. Barrett tells Boyd the two cases are connected. The team discovers that Jaffiri was tortured before being murdered, and that his young daughter, Leila, may have witnessed the killing. The team questions Leila, now in her twenties.

Meanwhile, Michael Leonard from the Foreign Office tells the team that he used to be a member of the Fakirs, a university drinking society, and that they have a skull which he suspects may be the Mahdi's.

The team breaks into the Fakirs' house during an initiation ritual and takes the skull away for forensic examination. Boyd questions both James Andrews and Elaine Wilson, the married couple who are in charge of the Fakirs, and bullies Wilson into giving him information about the skull.

Trevor Eve plays Boyd, Sue Johnston plays Grace, Wil Johnson plays Spence, Felicite du Jeu plays Stella, Tara Fitzgerald plays Eve, Alex Jennings plays James Andrews, Polly Walker plays Catherine Braithwaite, Graham Crowden plays Sir Cyril Barrett, Abdi Gouhad plays Khaled Ahmad, Alex James plays Michael Leonard, Houda Echouafni plays Leila Jaffiri and Lisa Jackson plays Elaine Wilson.

[Jessie Wallace]

The Fall: Part 1

In the first of a two-part story by Damian Wayling, the team is called in when workmen dislodge two sexually conjoined bodies which fall through the ceiling in a former City bank which folded after Black Wednesday.

A 13-digit number on a gold ingot matches that found on a cold case river corpse from 1993. The City bank corpse is bank director Mervyn Simmel, who disappeared and was suspected of skipping the country with the bank's funds. Simmel's co-chairman, Lucien Calvin, who was released following imprisonment for fraud, now masquerades as a therapist, preaching against greed.

Journalist Lisa Tobin takes a keen interest in the case. The female corpse is identified as Katherine Keane, reported missing by her husband, Declan Keane, in 1992. Tobin makes a connection between the two corpses before the team does and explains that she was researching Katherine's biography, and she knows Katherine had three other wealthy lovers at the time of her death: City Alderman Philip White, banker Anthony Garland and shadow Trade and Industry Minister Ian Taggart. Garland had an alibi but is now deceased so the team checks out Taggart and White.

Eve finds evidence of mortification on Katherine's thigh which links to Opus Dei. Boyd is warned off by Opus Dei's London director, Hugo Keegan. Meanwhile, the river corpse is identified as Brian McGurk, aide to an Irish Ambassador in London until he was sacked in 1992. The trail takes the team to Dublin where the case takes a dramatic turn when one of the suspects falls to his death as Boyd watches on, helpless.

The story concludes on Monday night at 9pm on BBC One.

[Katy]

Im so excited its on tomorrow, it looks really good. Glad Spence is still in it, hes my favourite. Tara Fitzgerald should be good i quite like her as an actress/

[Jessie Wallace]

I can't belive that Esther leave after only one series. It was bad enough when Holly went, and then just as i got used to that and had warmed to Esther, she goes and leaves too

[Katy]

i know what you mean, and i dont like the french woman that much either, but i think thats because she came after Claire Goose which was quite a touch act to follow. Spence is still there though hes my favourite, i like Sue Johnstons character as well GRace. I think shes really good. Oo its on tonight, my nan phoned me before saying how she was looking forward to it.

[Jojo]

*starts getting all excited as its on tonight, so reminds self that won't be online till at least afterwards *

I love this programme, not sure why Esther decided to leave that quickly, but then she didn't really make that much of an impression on me unlike Holly.

One of the best bits though - Boyd has kept the beard!!! Oh yes - thank you Trevor!!

(That and the brilliant storylines etc aswell mind)

[Katy]

my mum says that about trevor as well, the beard does him more justice than no beard.
The only problem with this show is it needs my full concenmtration otherwise i have no idea what is going on.

[Jojo]

Its one of the only programmes I must stay off the net to watch. Most things I can multi task, but what with looking at Trevors beard and then getting the storyline, PLUS chatting on net - its kind of impossible for me

[Jessie Wallace]

*starts getting all excited as its on tonight, so reminds self that won't be online till at least afterwards *

I love this programme, not sure why Esther decided to leave that quickly, but then she didn't really make that much of an impression on me unlike Holly.

One of the best bits though - Boyd has kept the beard!!! Oh yes - thank you Trevor!!

(That and the brilliant storylines etc aswell mind)

Oh yes Trevor and the beard one hour of bliss

Yes Holly was better, but then i've followed her carer for years and have always liked her. But i liked Esther too, so here's hoping i like the new girlie.