Unforgotten - Season 6

With an excellent sixth season, Unforgotten once again proves itself to be one of the best detective series of our time. Not every series gets a new season every year. Unforgotten also usually has two years between seasons. And every time I start a new season I forget how good the series was. When I started season six, the subdued atmosphere, excellent acting and interesting moral issues reminded me of the pure quality of this series.

Just like in every season, the detective team of Jessie James (Sinead Keenan) and Sunil Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar) try to solve a murder that happened years ago. This time the body of a man is found who had been lying in a swamp for several years and clearly did not die naturally. At first glance, this man seemed like the ideal colleague, husband and father. But when the team digs deeper, it turns out that the victim was not a pleasant person at all, that he had strange ideas and that plenty of people had a reason to want him dead.

Season six does what we've been seeing for years, and does it very well

Actually, every season starts the same way. We see a dead body and find out who this person was over the course of the season. At the same time we get to know the people who were involved with the victim in some way and it slowly becomes clear what the mutual relationships are. Here too, Unforgotten does this in a sublime way and the threads in the story are neatly woven together. What definitely helps is the guest and supporting roles of Victoria Hamilton, Maximilian Fairley and MyAnna Buring, among others.

We also see excellent acting from the regular players, especially Keenan and Bhaskar. At the end of season four, lead actor Nicola Walker left the series, leaving a void. With the introduction of new department head Jessica James, writer Chris Lang found an excellent way to give meaning to the hole Walker left behind.

While last season James seemed mainly a means to make it clear that some voids cannot be filled, this season she is increasingly becoming a layered character. For example, she has problems in her marriage, and how she deals with those problems clearly shows that her character also has multiple dimensions. Her more equal collaboration with colleague Khan is also increasingly reflected in this season.

This season also tackles interesting moral themes

What Unforgotten has excelled in since 2015 is the ethical aspect involved in police work. While many detectives are mainly about who the perpetrator is and why it happens, Unforgotten also looks for a meaning behind the motives. Although we see themes like this often, they are absolutely never boring. In addition, I thought the storyline surrounding newsreader Melinda Ricci (MyAnna Buring) was one that spoke volumes and said a lot about contemporary society and the role the media plays in world events.

With this sixth season, Unforgotten once again proves itself to be one of the best detective series of recent years. With a nice story, good actors and interesting ethical dilemmas, season six is ​​also rock solid. ITV has now also announced a seventh season and that is extremely good news. I'm looking forward to it!