ITV PRODUCTION NOTES

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Contents

*** The content of this press pack is strictly embargoed until 0001hrs on 14 January 2021 ***

** Following the TX of the first episode, the whole series will be available on ITV Hub and BritBox.

Episodes will continue to air weekly on ITV main channel **

Press Release 3

Foreword by Creator and Executive Producer Hans Rosenfeldt 4

Character Biographies 5-8

Interview with Anna Friel 9-13

Interview with Ray Panthaki 14-16

Interview with Amanda Burton 17-20

Interview with Hugo Speer 21-23

Episode one synopsis 25

Cast and Production Credits 27-28

Publicity Contacts 29

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Innovative and gripping crime drama Marcella from leading UK independent content production company Buccaneer Media is returning to ITV.Created by internationally renowned screenwriter and novelist Hans Rosenfeldt and Nicola Larder, Marcella stars Emmy® award winner Anna Friel (Butterfly, Broken, American Odyssey) in the title role. Hugo Speer (The Musketeers, Britannia, The Full Monty) and Ray Panthaki (Away, Colette, One Crazy Thing) also return to the series whilst Amanda Burton (Waterloo Road, Silent Witness) joins the drama as the formidable matriarch of the Maguire family.

Following on from the dramatic conclusion of the previous series, the eight new episodes focus upon Marcella’s new life in Belfast as an undercover detective. She has taken on the identity of Keira and has infiltrated the infamous Maguire family, but as she investigates their activities, questions come to the fore about how much she has embraced Keira’s persona and personality and left Marcella behind.

In true Marcella style, the series has interweaving storylines with strands focusing upon the Maguires’ criminal operations. As she inhabits the character of Keira, Marcella’s quest for the truth puts her in danger and others in harm’s way. Her undercover role makes her take risks, but will her old life eventually catch up with her?

An array of new cast members are welcomed to the series including Amanda Burton (Waterloo Road, Silent Witness) who takes on the role of Katherine, the matriarch of the Maguire family; Aaron McCusker (Bohemian Rhapsody, Fortitude, Shameless) plays her son, Finn Maguire; whilst Hugo Speer (The Musketeers, Britannia, The Full Monty), who made a brief appearance in the final scenes of series two, reprises his role as Frank Young, Marcella’s undercover handler. Kelly Gough (The Fall, Broadchurch) also joins the cast, taking the role of Stacey, Katherine’s daughter; Martin McCann (Death & Nightingales, The Frankenstein Chronicles) plays Stacey’s husband, with Eugene O’Hare (The Fall, Death & Nightingales) as local police officer Eddie. Michael Colgan (X Company, My Mother and Other Strangers) plays Rory Maguire, whilst Paul Kennedy (Death & Nightingales, No Offence) plays Lawrence, Marcella’s initial contact within the crime family and Glen Wallace (River City, The Secret) is Matt, a past acquaintance.

Marcella is executive produced by Rosenfeldt, Buccaneer Media’s founder Tony Wood, who created the joint venture production company in partnership with global entertainment company, Cineflix Media, and Anna Friel. The series is produced by Sue de Beauvoir and Amanda Black. The first four episodes are directed by Gilles Bannier with Ashley Pearce directed the following four.

Hans Rosenfeldt has written the first two episodes and story-lined episodes three to eight. The writers of these episodes are David Allison (Bedlam, The Case), Rachel Flowerday (Father Brown, The Moonstone) Mike Walden (The Frankenstein Chronicle), Matthew Thomas (The Chameleon, Valentine’s Kiss) and Tim Loane (Das Boot, Versailles).

The series was filmed entirely on location in and around Belfast. Cineflix Rights has exclusive worldwide distribution rights to the series.

Critically acclaimed Marcella, starring Anna Friel, returns to ITV for the highly anticipated third series

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FOREWORD BY HANS ROSENFELDT, CREATOR & EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Time flies… It’s hard to believe that it was six years ago that I met with Nicola Larder for the first time in Turin on a seminar about remakes of my Swedish/Danish show ‘The Bridge’, and started taking about writing a new crime show, my first in the English language. She had an idea about a woman scorned, one whose husband had just left her for another woman, at the same time as she’s more or less forced to go back to be a police officer again. In the year to come we teamed up with Tony Wood at Buccaneer and created Marcella.

In April 2016 series one premiered on ITV, and later Netflix. I loved working on it, I loved the result and luckily, I wasn’t the only one. In 2018 series two aired and now – in these strange and uncertain times – we’re proud to present the third series with our fabulous, flawed detective.

With that small difference, that she’s not a detective anymore. Not really. When we parted with Marcella, in the last episode of series two, she was at the very bottom. Earlier suppressed memories had come back to her and she’d realised that she had killed her daughter, Juliet. When we left her, she was alone, homeless and presumed dead, doing everything in her powers to try to erase and forget her past, her name, her memories, even her face. She just couldn’t cope with being Marcella anymore…

But she must be, because we were writing another series. But where to go from where we left off? We knew right away that it would be hard, impossible even, to bring her back as a police officer after what she’d done and been through. So, series three is kind of a reinvention, a new and different take on the show.

So much fun to do, but not without its challenges. It is important that it still feels like the Marcella we know; the audience must recognise what they watched and liked before.

But how to do that one more time without a lot of the things – well, most of them actually - that were a vital part of the series before: The London setting, Marcella’s family life, a team at the police station, a complicated murder investigation? Could it even be done? If you ask me, the answer is 100% yes!

We decided to let Marcella go undercover. Gave her a new identity and a new mission: to infiltrate a crime family in Belfast. We loved the idea of the very troubled and vulnerable Marcella – as always so magnificently portrayed by Anna Friel – getting a fresh start, a new life, an opportunity to become a completely different person and to see how far she is willing to go, what she’s willing to do, not to be reminded about her past.

Setting Marcella up in a completely new environment, with new people around her gave us a chance to discover and explore new sides of her and to dig deeper into her mental state. Having her deep, deep undercover, in constant danger of being revealed and caught instead of having her trying to catch another clever serial killer felt fresh, fun and gave a lot of good energy in the story lining room.

I was responsible for the storyline and wrote the first two episodes this time. Unfortunately, I had to leave after that due to other, prior, engagements. But the new writers and the team at Buccaneer did a great job continuing.

So, to sum it up. I’m very proud and pleased with the third series of Marcella. She’s an amazing character and I feel very fortunate to have been a part of the creative team bringing her to you.

My only wish now – apart from the world going back to some kind of normal – is that you will like the new series and the new direction we’re taking Marcella in, as much as I do. I think you will…

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Marcella Backland played by Anna FrielMarcella was an unflinching and unrelenting detective in the previous two series. However, at the end of series two, after discovering that she killed her own daughter, Marcella rejected who she was and, in effect, wanted to erase herself.

Now she’s undercover with a new persona, Keira Devlin.

As the series progresses, the battle between Marcella and Keira becomes increasingly complex as she uses her new persona to bury the truth and pain of her past.

Marcella’s undercover persona, KeiraKeira’s official backstory is that she was born in Manchester but had Northern Irish grandparents, whom she’d visit in the summers until her late teens. Keira then became a cop in the Manchester police when she was 22 years old and worked her way up to detective by the age of 30.However, Keira was discovered to be a corrupt officer. She decided to move back to her roots in Northern Ireland and that’s when she met Lawrence.

CHARACTER BIOGRAPHIES

DCI Rav Sangha played by Ray PanthakiSince the last series Rav has been promoted. He’s a loyal, committed police officer who goes by the book in his pursuit of justice.

His relationship with Marcella has developed over the previous two series, from his initial irritation at her unconventional ways to a burgeoning friendship, marked no stronger than the last scene of series two when she almost confessed to him that she’d killed her daughter, Juliet.

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Frank Young played by Hugo SpeerWe first met Frank at the close of Series 2. He was sent to find Marcella after her DNA was found at a house fire in London (she swapped DNA with a homeless woman in Series 1). Marcella is technically deceased, and that makes her a valuable asset to the police. They want to send her undercover.

In Series 3, Frank is Marcella’s handler. He’s helped her create the Keira persona using extreme techniques and psychological manipulation. Marcella feeds information back to him about the family. He’s her protector and boss, but Frank has his own ulterior motives to bring down the Maguire family and is using her as his highly unorthodox weapon. As Rav becomes increasingly concerned for Marcella, he comes up against Frank, who can’t let her go.

Katherine Maguire played by Amanda BurtonThe matriarch of the family, she too has her eyes across all of the Maguire operation. She’s proud of the success the family has had since her husband died. Whilst in the early 90’s her husband may have run a wholly criminal enterprise with paramilitary links, Katherine was responsible for steering it towards a legitimate operation, leaning on the contacts she and her husband developed in the underworld to power the expansion whilst maintaining a legitimate veneer.

To help create this veneer, she has a stake in many charitable/social enterprises in the community that are genuinely close to her heart. She’s grown up on the estates that she now tries to help and retains close links to the people there. These are her people.

Whilst she’s put everything into raising her children, she’s aware that she’s given them luxuries and a start in life that she never had and is conscious of the impact this has had on who they are.

But this picture of civility and up-standing citizenship masks her true ways.

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Finn Maguire played by Aaron McCuskerThe middle child. Finn’s legit business streak has helped the family develop into an authentic enterprise within Belfast, with operations stretching to the port and into England. He’s overseen all of this as CEO. However, underlying these legitimate businesses are crime operations that generate the family further revenue.

Finn has not yet provided the family with an heir - a source of contention with his mother. He wants to be at the centre of the family’s future, but he can’t. Because of that, he’s almost self-loathing.

Rory Maguire played by Michael Colgan Rory has an OCD condition that makes him a reclusive germaphobe. Rarely seen out of his house, his compulsion has led to the nickname “Raw Hands” as the frequency with which he continuously washes his hands leaves them red raw.

But this condition has also led to Rory becoming isolated and he satisfies his needs in unconventional ways.

Rory has a great mind, with a photographic memory and an intense knowledge of the law. He acts as his family’s lawyer.

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Stacey Maguire (Barrett) played by Kelly GoughThe youngest daughter of the family, she’s pregnant with a girl, a source of great pride for Katherine but of mild resentment from her brothers. Particularly considering the child’s father is Bobby Barrett. Stacey loves her husband -at times, despite himself.

She has a vague knowledge of the family’s business operations at the start of the series. Prompted by Marcella she begins to make bigger waves in the family to protect her husband, creating fissures between her brothers and their mother.

Bobby Barrett played by Martin McCann Bobby is the interloper and punchbag at the Maguires’, having married into this powerful family where he’s in over his head. It’s been a huge social coup for him, giving him status beyond which he could ever have imagined.

But Bobby’s not really cut out for the position he finds himself in. He’s impetuous, arrogant and imprudent and lacks the smarts that a born and raised Maguire has.

Whilst he strives to prove himself to the family, in their eyes he’ll never be a Maguire.

Lawrence Corrigan played by Paul Kennedy Marcella’s initial contact within the crime family. He’s worked as their accountant for a number of years but his interest in Marcella has developed as he sees a potential future with her.

They’ve been in a relationship for ten months and Lawrence is smitten.

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ANNA FRIEL IS MARCELLA / KEIRA

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Are you excited for the UK audience to see series three? I can’t wait for everyone to see it. Even if you haven’t watched the first two seasons, this one can be watched as a standalone. People across the world have watched season three and enjoyed it so much that they then went back and watched one and two. It’s created a different momentum. More people are watching box sets because they’re at home more. So, it’s found a new audience as well, which is a really positive thing.

Series two ended on some almighty cliff-hangers. Was the story arc for the first two series always leading to that moment of Marcella discovering what really happened to baby Juliet? Discovering what had really happened to the baby, yes, but we didn’t know that we were going to slice Marcella’s cheek or crop all her hair. Usually what happens when we get to episode five or six is I call Hans (Rosenfeldt) and ask, ‘What’s the end? How are we going do this? Please push the boundaries.’ And then we discuss where we are going to go. There’s a saying we have, ‘Let’s Marcella it up.’

What was your reaction to the idea of Marcella going undercover for series three? Was that Hans’ idea or yours? The going undercover idea was Hans. The whole premise of Marcella not wanting to be herself. She just doesn’t want to exist anymore. The ending of season two was a collaborative decision with lots of talks between the team.

What were your thoughts about her new look and wardrobe?The look is really important for this. We had to make her look completely different. First of all being blonde. We couldn’t just dye my hair. I’ve done that three times in my life and it went green and I had to cut it all off. It’s a really hard one to pull off. I think the department did a really good job of making it look incredibly authentic. For series three the colour palette had to change. There are the influences of who she is with now.

Have you kept the iconic green parka and jumper? They’re all in storage. They’re not mine to keep. Hopefully they will be auctioned off or something one day. I try and keep character pieces of costume for that purpose. You never know when you’re going to be asked to auction this or that. If it can help someone else in some way even better. I was very attached to season one and season two’s look which I liked to call Tintin. We buckled her up and gave her a signature look that was cool and stylish with a shirt and sweater and her Marcella boots and the Marcella walk. She’d just been left by her husband. She wasn’t going to be flaunting her cleavage. People seemed to really cotton on to Marcella’s look.

Was it refreshing to leave behind the Edgware Road and Joe Strummer subway and relocate to Belfast? I really love that police station. I got very attached to it. There’s not a day when I drive over the A40 when I don’t look at it and sigh. That will always be Marcella’s office. It just belonged to London so much. I even missed those subways that were cold and damp and depressing, because it was part of Marcella’s world. Hans was really fascinated that my family were from Belfast. He always tries to add as many elements of your own life into the story. He thought wouldn’t it be interesting if she moved country because how would she be able to facilitate a life with a cover for the family in this country?

Do you still have family in Belfast? I have family in the area still, it was so lovely to live there whilst filming and be surrounded by family. Sadly, my grandmother didn’t quite make 100, but I got to catch up with everyone else. I have 82 cousins! I’ve a lot of family in Donegal so they were proud for their girl to be back on home turf where I spent so much of my childhood.

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In terms of the storytelling did it feel that you could go to very different places now that the show isn’t tied to a murder mystery? I think it had to. I was concerned how we were going to do that when we hadn’t got those things like ‘who’s the killer’, Hans said he wanted to put her in a completely different environment. We didn’t want it to be formulaic. Marcella was ground-breaking for its time because it was the first Scandi Noir to be written in Swedish and then translated into the English language and set in London. Hans wanted the audience to think, ‘Ooh hang on. What’s this now?’

How is Marcella’s life better in her undercover guise as Keira and what is the price she is having to pay to be Keira? I think the fact that she gets to start again is a big plus for her. She didn’t like who she was or what she did. Somehow, she gets to leave the guilt and the grief behind. What she should have done is go through very deep therapy and not blamed herself to the extent that she did. She needed help but instead of asking for help she buried it. This is about her journey of how she gets herself better this time. This series is really about redemption.

What makes Amanda Burton perfect casting as the crime family matriarch Katherine Maguire? Wasn’t Amanda born and raised in Derry? Yes, isn’t that incredible? It was like going home for her. She’s great to watch. With the body of work she has, she’s powerful, specific, strong. I was really happy when I heard it was her I was going to be working with. You need to be really scared of the boss of the house and she does it tonally cleverly without have to push it. It just lands. You don’t have to shout to be scary. She is 100 percent Marcella’s most formidable adversary. They meet their match in each other.

Did yours and Amanda’s paths ever cross with Brookside? Her character Heather Haversham was gone by the time The Jordachefamily moved into the close. I only did 17 months when I was 16 and Amanda had already left the series. We couldn’t even sit and chat and reminisce. We had worked with totally different cast and crew. We knew that it gave us both a great start.

What does Katherine make of Keira? Initially, she doesn’t give her a chance at all and doesn’t seem to like or trust her. Katherine is quite narcissistic. Keira is very subservient around her. But Marcella learns how not to be. One of Hans’ points was at what stage of her being undercover as Keira does Marcella enjoy playing her more than she does being Marcella? When the two lines become blurred as she already suffers from fugues you’ve got a real mess on your hands.

Can you talk about Keira’s intense relationship with Finn Maguire? She uses sex as a tool. I think in the past it’s always worked against her. She’s been left by every single man. She’s got every reason not to trust anybody. She is desperately hurt and fearfully vulnerable and alone. She thinks, ‘Well, I’ve got nothing to lose. This guy falls for that so let’s use it.’

What was it like playing scenes with Aaron McCusker? Aaron was so brilliant to work with. I really liked him. We got on so well and thank God we did as had quite a few intimate scenes. After 30 years in the business it’s almost like composing a dance those scenes. He was very respectful. We got it done quickly and didn’t have to do lots of takes. There was an element of violence to it. We were just careful with each other that no one got hurt. The aim of the game is to make things look believable.

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Why do you think Marcella has had such bad luck with men? Husband Jason, cheat. Tim at work, cheat. Finn, psychotic. I think it’s because she put her job first. Then, when she gave up the job, she thought she’d be alright with that and then wasn’t. I don’t really think she was supported in that decision. Once bitten twice shy. I think she really really loved Jason and I think she never got over the pain. She tried with Tim and then the same happened again.

DCI Rav Sangha played by Ray Panthaki is back. Was Rav always the best of the men that Marcella had to deal with in the first two seasons? I always wanted them to get together. He’s her saving grace because he believes in her. He’s the only person who exists who actually really understands her, but she finds it impossible to let anyone in. Everyone loves Rav and Anna loves Ray. We’re good mates. I adore working with him. We’ve got such a good rapport. The only thing that is a negative is that we do make each other giggle. We have to really keep an eye on that but it’s great to have a team mate still on board. After all these years we’ve become incredibly tight. It was hard because when we started this time not only was there no police station, there was no recurring cast apart from him. At times it was like going onto a whole new series. It was a whole new crew and all Irish cast apart from Ray and all Irish crew, which was brilliant. Having Ray there gave me a level of safety.

It was a little bit harsh Marcella hitting Ray with a toilet lid at the end of season two after he’d talked her down from the ledge, wasn’t it? Of course, it was so mean. She wasn’t in the right state of mind. I think if anything in this is to resonate with people being under lockdown up for so many months it is mental health awareness. We’ve got to keep asking people, ‘Are you ok? Are you suffering?’ Hans is very forward thinking in his writing. Marcella suffers from mental health problems.

She wasn’t helped and didn’t know how to deal with them but was exceptional at her job so she just kept going.

Do you have a way of decompressing from Marcella at the end of the day? Like everything in life it’s time. For me nature is everything. I get out. I walk. I level myself and ground myself with my family and my daughter specifically. I live in Windsor and when we were filming the first two seasons of Marcella in London I did the two hour drive there and back so that I could just get back and see Gracie. For this one I was lucky enough to have her at home and in school in Belfast. That’s your leveller. She doesn’t want to see Marcella so you immediately snap out of it.

What were the trickiest scenes to shoot? You posted a video of you in your trailer with hailstones pelting down on it. The rain was pretty tough out there and it was pretty cold. To keep continuity when we were going through three different seasons as we were shooting was a challenge but it was more about having to reapply the scar and going from dark to blonde in the same day. So it was less about shooting one particular scene and more about emotionally mapping it out when we weren’t shooting in sequence.

What’s Keira/Marcella’s relationship like with her undercover boss Frank Young played by Hugo Speer? Marcella doesn’t trust anybody. Worse than that she knows that nobody cares so why pretend that you care? I think the trust lessens when she realises how vulnerable she is. It’s like she’s surrounded by lots of narcissists. I don’t think she’d really hurt good people apart from Rav who she doesn’t intend to hurt. People want what they can get out of her because they know she’s a good cop. When they’ve got what they want they’ll throw her aside. I think Frank unfortunately becomes one of those people. He pretends to care but in actual fact he doesn’t.

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Has lockdown been a creative time for you? I think lockdown has been a challenge for everyone at times. It’s been up and down. You have to count your blessings. Living in Windsor I’ve never been so grateful for the great park and long walks. Being able to get outside and do that every day. What you’ve got to remember is not to just think of your world, but think of all of us as a nation. I had my brother and his three under-threes staying with me because both parents are doctors so one had to be at the hospital and one not. At least I got to be aunty Anna. I cooked for everybody every day. Last year I had just four weeks in my house. I was five and a half months filming in Belfast and then Nova Scotia and Madison. This year I’ve had four weeks out of my house. For some people relationships have blossomed, other people have been hit by the lockdown. Luckily I’m the latter.

What’s your next job? My next job is The Box which was meant to be shooting now but they’ve pushed it to January because of COVID in Sweden. The Box is actually working with the Scandi team so that’s going to be brilliant, fascinating and interesting.

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RAY PANTHAKI IS RAV SINGHA

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Where do we find Rav at the beginning of this new series?We learn what the repercussions were of the incident between Ravand Marcella at the end of series two and find out that he survived after being left for dead. He’s now back at work doing what he does best. He’s been tasked with heading up an investigation into the murder of the Foreign Secretary’s son at a London nightclub.

How does Rav find himself in contact with Marcella again?The prime suspect in the murder of the Foreign Secretary’s son is based in Northern Ireland. Rav is sent to Belfast to question the chief suspect who is part of the Maguire family, where, unbeknownst to him, Marcella is working within the family as an undercover agent. Of course, everything he thought he knew starts to unravel.

How does he react to the fact that Marcella isn’t dead?Initially, it’s like he’s seen a ghost, like someone has returned from the dead. Everyone assumes that she passed away in a fire - her DNA found at the scene confirmed her death.To someone who works with forensic facts, there is no reason for him to believe she would be alive. It’s an unbelievable moment.

What can viewers expect from this series?It takes a diversion from the ‘whodunnit’ of the first two series, yet this series feels equally exciting and more like a drama that’s focused on the life and complexities of a family but still with the thriller-esqueelements that made the first two series so compelling.

It delves further into the characters and stylistically it’s developed, thanks to Hans and his forward thinking, which adds another layer to the drama.

The show has shifted slightly, it’s kept the excitement and suspense that Marcella is known for whilst exploring other elements.

Although this is the third series of Marcella, in some ways, with a whole new location and cast. Would you agree that it feels like a new series in itself?

There was a feeling of leading the way for this series, it was a whole new collection of people coming into it. Between myself and Anna, we had a responsibility to maintain the integrity of the show.

Anna and I were the only pre-existing members of the team so we had that prior knowledge of the show. It felt like I had to step up my responsibility to stay true to the characters and a show that’s built momentum for two series.

Whilst I missed everyone who worked on the show previously and made it so great, it was great to see the show evolving.

How was it working with the new cast? Had you worked with any of them previously?I hadn’t worked with any of them previously but Amanda Burton, Kelly Gough and Martin McCann – who I have known from the industry, are a wonderful group of actors who gave everything. Working with Northern Irish actors in a Northern Ireland setting was a great experience.

How was it working in Belfast and what was the response like?I’ve always loved Belfast as a city, it’s always warm and hospitable. You could go out on your own and make friends, we were welcomed with open arms by the locals.

We had a very busy schedule and I was also shooting in London at the same time so I was back and forth, I had to travel a lot to make it work, but it was worth it.

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Over the past two series Rav and Marcella have had a tumultuous relationship. Will this carry on in the new series?

The love/ hate relationship is what makes them so compelling to watch and you don’t ever know where they stand with each other.

Over the course of the series we learn that Marcella left Rav for dead and, on top of that, she deceived so many people, including her family. Rav has to tell Marcella how he spoke at her funeral and that he comforted her children.

Rav has mixed emotions towards Marcella but he sees the danger she’s in and has a huge dilemma. He has a lot of pent up anger towards her, wanting to do the right thing. yet he wants to save Marcella at the same time - it’s a real character journey for him. We ultimately see how much he cares about her.

Marcella is such a London-centric show. What do you think Northern Ireland brings to the series? It has still kept the DNA of the show and the way in which Hans writes, he has created something so compulsive and fast moving that you’re transfixed by it.

Hans has created a web of interconnecting characters and storylines that have come together to make something so gripping. Fundamentally, this is what is at the heart of the series success.

We now have the added element of a drama that revolves around a family in a different location which lets the show evolve. It will be exciting for audiences because of the double identity that Marcella now has and how she is living. She also looks completely different which gives added freshness to this series.

What about filming the third series has really stuck out for you?The scene when Rav first encounters Marcella and then they come

face to face in the interrogation room. She flat out denies who she is and denies knowing who Rav is which leaves Rav questioning both of their states of minds and leaves him asking which one of them is crazy? He goes through a mix of emotions and tries every tactic to get through to her and yet still can’t crack her. That was a great scene to do.Also, when Rav sends in a team to arrest members of the family and burst through the McGuire’s mansion, this was a chance for all the main actors to be together.

Spurs were also playing in the Champions League semi-final that night so I remember trying to watch it on my laptop and get signal and Spurs went through so I remember it because of that. I was running around going crazy!

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AMANDA BURTON IS KATHERINE MAGUIRE

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Could you start by telling us about your character in Marcella?Katherine is a very wealthy woman who is the matriarch of a notorious crime family. She lives in a very grand luxurious house, but her benevolence and benefactor status comes at a price. She always likes to remind everyone around her that she grew up on the streets, she’s ‘one of the people’ and clawed her way up the ladder to where she is today. For instance, she has sanctioned a new housing development in an under-developed area in Belfast and she’s opened a Maguire wing in an art gallery but all the money has come from extortion, drugs and people trafficking. She’s was brought up around violence and doesn’t really know any other way - she’s not afraid to use it to control and gain power.

Her main drive and focus are on her family; she wants to keep them wealthy, keep the Maguire name and status in the community. She’s awaiting the arrival of her first grandchild which is huge for her and she’s extremely happy about it. It’s giving her hope for the future and the continuity of the family business; the next generation of the Maguire’s. She’ll dote on the baby and be such a proud grandparent.

Viewers will meet her at a time when she’s clinging on to her health and power [she’s recovering from a stroke], and, in the eyes of her family, she has weakened and she senses that there’s a power struggle going on between her children which will develop over the series. She’s still formidable and her grown up children are fearful of her as they know what she’s capable of; she can be quite cruel, even to them. She doesn’t have many boundaries but I suppose you can’t have many weaknesses in her line of work.

Were you aware of a backstory for your character? I sat down with Gilles Bannier, the lead director of the series and he very much laid the blueprint for me as to who Katherine was. I love a backstory and enjoy filling in the gaps myself.

She was definitely brought up in a modest environment, very different to how her children grew up.

I think a history of a character really helps, of course, you only play the character from where you meet them on the page, but I think it really helps the development and it gives a broader and more emotional response to the character.

Could you explain the relationship between Katherine and Keira aka Marcella?Keira is brought into the Maguire family by someone who works for them and Katherine is very suspicious of her when they first meet. As time goes on, Keira seems to be around the family a lot more but she doesn’t really accept her as anything other than an intruder at the beginning; she’s incredibly vigilant and protective of her family. Katherine has to be quite guarded about newcomers into the family, especially with their line of work, so she treats everyone with suspicion.

Katherine, I suppose, has always lived on her instincts and she’s swayed by Keira and she begins to see her as an ally, particularly when her daughter Stacey becomes friendlier with her. Keira manages to make herself pretty indispensable in the family and Katherine softens towards her, maybe due to her vulnerability with her illness she becomes accepting, possibly even fond of her, which is saying something for a woman with a heart of stone!

Did you do any research into crime families before taking on the role?I think fact is usually as broad as fiction, if not broader and I usually find real crime stories very fascinating, it’s always been a huge interest to me. I always take an interest in reported cases in the news and how people express themselves in trials and once they’ve been caught – it’s such an interesting side of human nature.

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My other main reference points are films and television series. Once I knew I was going to be playing Katherine I touched base again with The Godfather – not that I’m comparing my character or the Maguires to the set up in that film. I wanted to look at family structures and that is an extraordinary blueprint to go back to. Also, more recently, the amazing Succession and how that family business was run.

Had you previously watched Marcella before filming?I binge watched the first two series and I loved it – it’s got such huge production values.I really like the character that Anna plays. She’s quite mesmerising and a very unusual protagonist too. It’s a very refreshing series and the fact that it’s unpredictable is an added bonus as well.

Did the fact that Hans Rosenfeldt created the series help your decision to take the role? Hans is such an interesting writer and he doesn’t shy away from really difficult subjects. The viewer definitely saw this during the second series of Marcella which was a very difficult topic to cover; hard hitting, definitely on the dark side but written and handled so well.

The same goes for this series; there’s a shocking parallel with a couple of our storylines that are quite horrific and unfortunately also happen in real life. That is the very sober side of being in a drama like Marcella, some of these things actually do take place.

I loved his series The Bridge and the characters he created. There’s a sort of a loneliness to Hans’ lead roles and I think that’s something I’ve always found really interesting.

Do you look for anything in particular in a script before agreeing to take on a role? It’s a culmination of a lot of things; two of the most important are a really good script and a really good character, which of course Marcella delivered on, and Hans was an added bonus.

Quite early on I met with the director Gilles Bannier and I found him instantly very charismatic and really interesting; his take on Katherine was very persuasive. When you have a very good story and you have an up and running successful series and a great character to play, obviously you’re going to jump at the chance to be involved, so it was very exciting for me to be cast in it.

This series is very different to the first two as it’s set in Northern Ireland, with a huge Irish cast. Was that appealing to you?Yes absolutely, it was an enormous factor and it was so wonderful that I was going to have this big family of Irish actors to work with; just fantastic. I hadn’t worked with any of the cast beforehand and it’s always exciting to work with new people.

It’s really interesting as this is the third series but, in a way, a brand new one as it’s in a different location with a huge new cast. On a new series, you’re setting a tone, you’ve got a blank canvas but when you’re coming in to an already established series you just hope you can do the best and not mess it up!

What was it like filming in Belfast?I spent a lot of time in a beautiful house that was Katherine’s home. It was wonderful because we were right in the middle of the gorgeous countryside in this rather enormous house. There was actually a lama born one morning as we walked past one of the paddocks and that was really exciting. We were all very keen to see how the lama did and, safe to say, it was flourishing by the time we left. It was quite bucolic really, which in a way, was quite an extreme opposite to this hard hitting, strong Belfast family and there we were in this extraordinary, huge country house with surrounding land, lakes and gardens. It was a bit juxtaposition really.

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I equally loved being out on the streets, I always have adored that. It was always fascinating gauging people’s reactions and it was lovely that people were approaching us, really interested in what was going on. Everyone is quite used to Belfast now being used as a location so the locals weren’t over excited by us!

It was fascinating for me to go back as it was about seventeen years or so ago that I last filmed there and the change was immense. This time we were filming in places where it just wouldn’t have been possible to film back then. It quite extraordinary and evoked a lot of emotional memories for me being there.

I truly love Belfast and I’ve got to know it in a different way to than I did previously. Whenever I had a day off I’d walk around the city, chatting to people and soaking up the vibes of the place. It really got under my skin and I’ve absolutely grown to love the place so much. It’s been kind of gorgeous to be able to do that and a real privilege; the kindness of people nearly reduced me to tears on a daily basis.

Do you have any outstanding memories or can you pin down what your favourite part of the Marcella experience so far has been for you? I think the overall aspect of being able to immerse myself in Belfast life with my fellow Irishmen has been incredibly special and also being able to work with Gilles Bannier was a real highlight.

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HUGO SPEER IS FRANK YOUNG

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Can you start by explaining to us who Frank is and how he’s involved with Marcella?Frank Young is effectively Marcella’s UCO which is an undercover

operative. Basically, UCO’s work for the police, but undercover. What Frank does is look after Marcella; he’s there as her boss and her point

of contact as she infiltrates an Irish crime family. Her job is to report

back to my character on everything that she’s found and he needs to

instruct her on next moves and guide her.

Did you do any research into the work of a UCO before the series started filming?I was put in touch with a retired UCO and he’s previously advised on

Marcella so I was in good hands. We spent some time together and I

grilled him as much as I could about anything and everything to do with the role; what kind of person made a good UCO, any

distinguishing sort of personality traits or characteristics as such. He

was brilliant and he was available to me throughout the process if I

had any questions.

It was so useful to be in contact with someone who has first-hand

experience of the job. He was a brilliant guide when I was unsure

about how Frank would or should react in a particular situation.

Frank appeared in the final scene of the previous series. Did you think you’d be back for series three?It was pretty much my preconception that, if the show was lucky

enough to return for a third series, I would be joining the cast.

I think that was the initial plan in order to effectively create a bridge from series two to series three. My character appeared out of the

blue and effectively gave Marcella a way out of the situation she’d

created.

Do you think Frank has bitten off more than he can chew with Marcella?As the series unfolds, it’s quite clear that Frank has his own agenda as

well. He’s certainly shocked by some of the reactions he receives from Marcella. I honestly don’t think he expected a lot of her behaviour and I

definitely don’t think he knew who or what he was taking on when he

approached her at the end of series two.

I won’t say he’s bitten off more than he can chew as he can handle tough situations. Marcella is definitely a handful and I think she

jeopardises his ability to carry out his agenda which becomes apparent

later on in the series. So, I guess yes and no, he’s very experienced in

dealing with tricky people, but he knows he’s got his hands full with this

one!

It’s written by the brilliant Hans Rosenfeldt. Does that add a sense of gravitas to working on a series?I absolutely do believe so. My wife and I had watched all of The Bridge which was created and written by Hans and we loved that and thought it was awesome. Being able to attach myself to a project with that sort of

calibre is always such a wonderful thing.

My prerequisite for almost any job, is the writing… the script – if the

writing’s no good, then you’re really going to struggle making a good show. So, with Hans writing this, it was a bit of a no brainer really.

Do you think it’s more daunting joining an established series or is it always nicer to start something brand new?Honestly, I think it’s six of one and half a dozen of another. I’ve been lucky to work in this industry for over twenty-five years now, so I’m

confident enough, that what I have to bring to a project will be honest

and as good as I can make it.

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Any of the previous established series that I’ve worked on I’ve found that everyone has been very welcoming. Most of the acting community are generous of spirit and they’re happy to have you join a series.

What was it like working with the cast?I’d never worked with any of them before which was a breath of fresh air. A lot of the cast were local Northern Irish actors, and very, very talented. There were very high standards of acting from the cast which was great and I got on well with all of them, so I was very lucky.

What was it like filming in Belfast?I found all the people and the general atmosphere of the place was beautiful, I really loved it. Belfast felt refreshing, enthusiastic and driven to make the most of the opportunities that are presenting themselves at the moment. The city has the Titanic studios and everything that happened with Game of Thrones filming in the area has brought a lot of kudos.

A lot of people have been given opportunities they wouldn’t have had before. It’s heart-warming to see the film and TV industry have a profound and positive effect on a whole community and area. I also made some pals, as I normally do, with some of the locals, I’d go out and experience a little bit of a nightlife as well and that generally felt really good, that was lovely.

Is there anything that stands out from the filming experience?There are some scenes towards the end of the series that were shot in the countryside that have really stuck with me. Of course, I can’t go into detail but I can say it did involve dealing with a very emotionally volatile character who we know and love as Marcella.

It was a really beautiful place to film as well as a wonderful acting moment.

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Episode One: Marcella is working deep undercover in Belfast, investigating the Maguire crime family. She’s got a distinct new look but the faint outline of the scar

on her face is still visible. Having started a relationship with Lawrence, the accountant for the business, Marcella is deep behind enemy lines as her

alias Keira Devlin. The family business is run by matriarch Katherine and her two sons; the OCD suffering Rory and the tempestuous Finn. The

daughter, Stacey, is heavily pregnant and married to reckless and dangerous Bobby who works for the business but has a secret drug business as a

sideline. The family have a stronghold over the ports, trafficking drugs and people through the borders. They have deep pockets and control the local

police.

Wanting to ingratiate herself deeper into the family, Marcella informs the family that Lawrence is embezzling. Lawrence meets a grizzly end, but

Marcella is now closer to the family and begins a relationship with Finn.

Bobby, wanting to distance himself from the drug business before the family find out, violently assaults a dealer on the estate. Later, whilst in

London, Bobby murders Isambard Grey at a nightclub, smashing a jeroboam of Champagne over his head during an altercation. DCI Rav Sangha is

assigned the case.

We meet 13-year-old Jessie, a young girl addicted to drugs and rebelling against the impending return of her imprisoned father Jack. Jack is serving

time for the Maguire family, as a faithful henchman.

When the bodies of 10 trafficked workers are discovered at the docks, politician Alexander Monroe declares war on the Maguire family.

Episode Two: Rav heads to Belfast to investigate Bobby while Marcella delves deeper into the Maguires’ criminal world. Marcella shares information with Frank

that leads to subsequent raids on the family businesses. They quickly suspect a rat…

On her way to meet Frank, someone recognizes Marcella. She recognizes him as someone from her past… Matthew Gaskill. Could her cover be

blown? Frank wants to extract her, she’s too close to the family and it breaches codes of conduct, but Marcella insists she’s closer than ever. She

promises to deliver the whole family to justice; it will be worth the risk.

In London, Rav convinces a witness to reveal Isambard’s killer, sending him to Belfast to investigate Bobby Barrett. Rav arrives at Belfast police

station, on the warpath. Eddie, the Maguire police informant, quickly warns Finn of his arrival and his interest in Bobby.

Finn is incandescent with Bobby, but Marcella offers up some advice to help the case, which only helps build trust with the family.

EPISODE SYNOPSES

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Marcella finds that someone has pinned a sheet of music on her windscreen… later she discovers the music is the lullaby from baby Juliet’s music box. She begins to have nightmares about her former life, her past trauma closing in around her. She takes drugs to drown out the painful memories.We meet Aaron, the drug dealer who has taken the helm on the estate. He sells Jessie some poorly cut gear that leads to a tragic ending. Aaron and his disabled brother are now in the firing line with Bobby and the law, but which is worse?

Bobby turns himself in, knowing that they’ve threatened the witness into withdrawing her statement, therefore exonerating Bobby as a suspect. Rav is furious, he knows he needs to stay in Belfast and investigate Bobby and the family he works for. His boss tells him that there’s another operation going on with an undercover operative…

For further episodic information, please contact jo.blanket@itv.com

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CHARACTER CREDITS

Marcella ANNA FRIEL

Rav RAY PANTHAKI

Frank HUGO SPEER

Katherine AMANDA BURTON

Finn AARON MCCUSKER

Rory MICHAEL COLGAN

Bobby MARTIN MCCANN

Stacey KELLY GOUGH

Aaron CIARAN FLYNN

Jessie EMILY FLAIN

Lawrence PAUL KENNEDY

Jack LAURENCE KINLAN

Megan VALERIE LILLEY

Danny JAMES MARTIN

Alexander Monroe MARK AIKEN

Matt GLEN WALLACE

Eddie EUGENE O’HARE

Ryan MICHAEL SHEA

Alanah SHANIQUA OKWOK

Sullivan BRIAN MILLIGAN

Isambard DANIEL ABBOTT

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Executive Producers TONY WOOD, HANS ROSENFELDT, ANNA FRIEL,

SUE DE BEAUVOIR, GILES BANNIER, ASHLEY PEARCE &

NADIA JAYNES

Co-Creators HANS ROSENFELDT & NICOLA LARDER

Writers HANS ROSENFELDT, DAVID ALLISON, RACHEL FLOWERDAY,

MIKE WALDEN, MATTHEW THOMAS & TIM LOANE

Directors GILLES BANNIER (BLOCK ONE)

ASHLEY PEARCE (BLOCK TWO)

Producers AMANDA BLACK, SUE DE BEAUVOIR & ELLIOTT SWIFT

Directors of Photography SAM CARE (BLOCK ONE)

DIRK NEL (BLOCK TWO)

Casting Director GARY DAVY

Costume Designer SUSAN SCOTT

Hair & Make Up Designer SUSAN COLE

Production Designer GILLIAN DEVENNEY

Art Director ALINE LEONELLO

Script Editor FLORA ZACKON

Editors ROBBIE MORRISON, ULRIKE MÜNCH, ISOBEL STEPHENSON

& HELEN SHERIDAN

Location Manager CHRIS MYERS

Unit Manager DEE GLENHOLMES

PRODUCTION CREDITS

If you use any material from this press pack, please include a full credit for the show. For any other enquires, please contact:

Jo Blanket– jo.blanket@itv.comITV Publicity Manager

Patrick Smith – patrick.smith@itv.comITV Picture Publicity Manager

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