Gemma Whelan is back as dogged Detective Sergeant Sarah Collins for a third series of ITV hit The Tower - but this time she’s the one breaking the rules.
S1
www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/4395979-THE-TOWER-ITV-9pm-MON-TUE-WED
S2
www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/4877580-the-tower-s2-mon-itv-1-9pm-tv-pace-no-spoilers
The series sees Sarah faced with the case of a stabbing of a young teenager and in the midst of it, she crosses paths once again with Lizzie (Tahirah Sharif) who is juggling being a new detective and a mother.
According to the official synopsis, Sarah is also brought "into conflict with DI Kieran Shaw who is running Operation Perseus, an undercover police task force set up to bring down South London drug kingpin Shakiel Oliver".
Gemma Whelan is back as dogged Detective Sergeant Sarah Collins for a third series of ITV (www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/itv) hit The Tower (www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/itv-delights-fans-return-hugely-33143709). After previously putting her police work above her personal happiness, Sarah is now romancing new girlfriend Julie (Camilla Beeput), who viewers will remember from series two.
However, this time it’s not just Sarah’s duties getting in the way of her love life, it’s also the immutable fact that Julie is a police witness.
Gemma explains, “It’s very complicated, because her girlfriend Julie was a witness in the Tower case, and that is directly against her by-the-book policing.
It’s highly frowned upon, sleeping with a witness. But she is trying to have a bit of a life as well, and we see whether or not that is possible.
It adds an interesting flavour to Sarah’s journey this season and I do think we see a different side of her. When she’s with Julie, she feels like she is lighter in some way.
This time around Gemma is investigating the fatal stabbing of a teenage boy in the street and only has one witness to the crime, another teen named Ryan (Lamar Waves).
While familiar characters from the show return, much has changed for all of them, leaving Sarah more alone than before.
Lizzie Adama (Tahirah Sharif) now has a baby from her relationship with DI Kieran Shaw (Emmett J Scanlan), and he is still living with his wife and trying to save his marriage, while also running an undercover operation.
DC Steve Bradshaw (Jimmy Akingbola), meanwhile, is deep undercover working for Kieran, and it becomes apparent early on that Sarah’s murder investigation is destined to become entangled with theirs.
Based on Gallowstree Lane, the third of Kate London’s Metropolitan books, the series also features fan favourite character Lizzie balancing being a single mother with her job as a detective on the same force as her baby’s father.
“Lizzie finds herself stuck trying to deal with the guilt that comes with working long hours and not spending time with her child, and not wanting to show any vulnerability at work to her peers, and wanting to appear in control,” Tahirah says. “We find her in quite a difficult spot.
The father of her child is not in the family home, he’s still married, and I don’t think at the beginning Lizzie has accepted where she is, she’s just trying to forge ahead like she always does.”
Her juggling act is on display when Sarah visits Lizzie to quiz her about what she knows about the knife murder while Lizzie is cooking her son’s fish fingers for dinner, and he starts to cry for his food.
“That scene was minimal acting required, because I had an actual baby who was screaming, and I was trying to make the fish fingers and deal with talking to Gemma’s character at the same time,” laughs Tahirah. “We had a lot to deal with on set, working with a very young child and trying to get these words out but I really enjoyed it for so many different reasons, and because it was so authentic.”