THE BAY S5 - ITV 9pm - sun 2nd March and mon and Tue - TV PACE. NO SPOILERS

[Blondeshavemorefun]

ITV’s hit crime drama The Bay is back for its fifth series, bringing more mystery, drama and emotional twists to Morecambe.

The new series starts on Sunday, 2 March at 9PM on ITV1, with episodes continuing on the Monday and Tuesday.

Marsha Thomason – who took over from Morven Christie as series lead for season 3 in 2022 – will return as family liaison officer DS Jenn Townsend (www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/the-bay-season-4-marsha-thomason-jenn-newsupdate/)
, who will once again be tasked with investigating a shocking crime.

Meanwhile, other regular cast members back for the new season include Daniel Ryan as DI Anthony 'Tony' Manning, Erin Shanagher as DS Karen Hobson and Andrew Dowbiggin as DS James Clarke.

There are also new arrivals in the shape of Happy Valley star Olwen May and The Full Monty's Tara Lynne O’Neill, while some more returnees include Barry Sloane as Chris Fischer, Georgia Scholes as his daughter Erin, and David Carpenter and Emme Hayes as Jenn’s children Conor and Maddie.

A synopsis for the new run teases: "When 23-year-old university student Hannah is found dead on the edge of the docks, Morecambe’s MIU team has another case to solve

Jenn, who is returning to work following the death of her father, pushes aside her own grief to support Hannah’s bitterly divided family.

"With the stakes of the investigation high, Jenn and the team dig deeper into the case, uncovering hidden friendships and secret liaisons as anger rises in the student community."

Yes, @PrincessScarlett, that business with the bag she "found" was as subtle as a sledgehammer.

More complexing

Well that was a little disappointing . Not much of a wow didn't think it would be them moment at all .

It was all rather rushed wasn't it. We all knew it would be someone that hadn't featured heavily so far.

@Tourist29 well done for predicting Erin would become a social worker 👏🏻

Who was it?

Wow. So not family but her tutor and as he was fiddling the figures and being paid well for it 🥲

Did anyone say they thought was tutor ?

Will there be a s6?

Will jen Tony and karen be in s6 if does happen

E6 recap

Craig visits Julie despite his parole denying him this right, in order to apologise before leaving again.

Patrol officers recover Hannah's laptop from someone who retrieved at the garbage dump and Lou manages to extract the data from it, which points them to a table of contents.

The details are specified by Elliot after they learn he chatted with Hannah despite denying this earlier.

The environmental office confirms the contents to stem from an unreleased report about pollution in the bay, which Hannah and Cal measured.

A Wi-Fi connection leads them back to her professor, David Wallasey, who confesses to killing her in a panic.

Wallasey had downplayed the contents in a consulting report for Vita Textiles, who also ordered the hit on Cal.

Jenn delivers the news to Hannah's family, while also reconnecting with her own.

Karen is suspended after failing to issue an apology to the officer from the vigil, while Manning returns home and takes leave per doctor's orders

Thanks for the summary !

Yes, more of a whimper than a bang. Did anyone else think of a young Janine Butcher from 'Stenders, seeing Erin?

That's exactly what I thought! Janine from years ago!

It wasn't the best but I still enjoyed it.

Yes I kept watching so it did have something. The characters were quite interesting. Jen's family all have such ridiculous expectations of her though, they are all older kids not 5yr olds. The school teacher partner is utterly cringeworthy, the talking over the ofsted person and then running over to hug them .

No idea why the older one was in a sulk with her because she'd been caught being complicit in shop lifting. Sorry stepmum's a bit busy investigating a double murder and dose she really think she could be a social worker, don't they need to have a degree not corner shop work experience.

Quite good how it was solved though.

I thought it was awful and I struggled through to the end. There is not one likeable character in the whole thing, from the coppers to the victim's family and friends to the kids... the fat boss cop's partner is ok I suppose. If there is another series I won't watch

I hope they haven’t run out of ideas

guess only so many murders and deaths

Bit disappointed in the end. The killer was someone who didn't even feature during the rest of the show. (I don't recall seeing him anyway!) A corner shop worker is going to be a social worker because her stepmum who is a detective can apparently pull some strings. A detective is suspended for having a row with someone and refusing to apologise - (and the series ended without anyone knowing if she keeps her job or not.)

I find the lead cop (Jen) quite unlikeable, and I really dislike her boring teacher husband too. (And the silly blonde bimbo who was after a shag from him.) Jen's children are OK. but the teacher partner's daughter (the shoplifter) is an arsehole. I also dislike Jen's mum. Irish lady from Derry Girls is sweet (and has a lovely accent!) The Chief who was in a car crash is quite likeable too. The woman who replaced him (while he was off,) was dreadful!

I found it a bit flat and formulaic - somehow the actors gave the impression they were just going through the motions. I did think there were some nicely done moments ... when Craig came to apologise to Julie (very moving) and when Jenn's husband speaks to Lainey to let her down gently (I thought that scene was well acted). Infact I find the husband - think he's called Chris - far more appealing as a character than Jenn.

I thought the scenes between Jenn and her mother were good too. But the level of Jenn's grief when she really didn't like her Dad much seemed unlikely.

Who knows if there'll be another series? It feels like they're paving the way for big cast changes if there is.

Yes, I wondered if they might be writing both Tony and Jenn out of it?

'The woman who replaced him (while he was off,) was dreadful!'

Yes she seemed to be channelling Anna Maxwell Martin's sour faced character in Line of Duty.

Ive only seen the last 2 series are the first couple any better?

So you didn’t really like it then 😂

We saw the murderer lots of times! The first time he appeared I said to DH 'it was him'. Always the lecturers!

Well done mr piggy

No me! I said it TO Mr Piggy. Who grunted and ignored me.

@Gloriia I think the earlier series are definitely worth a watch

They’re all mad. Not one of the main adult characters displays any maturity or professionalism and the kids wouldn’t be out of place in a Kevin The Teenager sketch.