The Bay is set to return for its fifth series on ITV, with Marsha Thomason and Daniel Ryan returning to lead the cast.

Set in Morecambe it will once again see the MIU team look into a complicated case.

There will be a more grief-stricken tone to the start of the fifth season as DS Jenn Townsend (Thomason) returns to work after the death of her father, with emotions still fresh and tensions still high with her mother Anne (Suzanne Packer).

As reported by the Radio Times the synopsis for The Bay series 5 reads: "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, they uncover hidden friendships and secret liaisons as the anger rises in the student community.

"As intensity increases, and the team peel back the complicated layers of Hannah’s life and the secrets within it, Jenn must reconcile her personal and professional struggles as she grapples to solve the case, come to terms with her own loss and build bridges with her family."

The fifth season has a notable British TV star behind the camera for half of the episodes, in Endeavour star Shaun Evans.

When asked by the Radio Times about what appealed to him in directing for the show, he said: "The appealing thing, I think, about is The Bay is the family liaison element and so, it's not like your usual procedural.

"It feels more emotional because she's in with the family, not asking very direct questions but getting to know about them and about the victim in a far more emotionally centred way.

"The fact that it's a female lead as well doing that, I found both of those things very appealing. Equally, it was lovely to get back up north and to be working up north."

ITV The Bay Series 5 full cast list

  • Marsha Thomason as DS Jenn Townsend
  • Daniel Ryan as DI Anthony 'Tony' Manning
  • Erin Shanagher as DS Karen Hobson
  • Andrew Dowbiggin as DS James 'Clarkie' Clarke
  • Olwen May as DC Louise 'Lou' McClaren
  • Barry Sloane as Chris Fischer
  • Georgia Scholes as Erin Fischer
  • David Carpenter as Conor Townsend
  • Emme Hayes as Maddie Townsend
  • Suzanne Packer as Anne Jackson
  • Tara Lynne O’Neill as Sinead Flanagan

  • Leanne Best as Julie Ashworth
  • David Troughton as Tommy Campbell
  • Neil Maskell as Steve Dawson
  • Stephen Wight as Craig Ashworth
  • Ceallach Spellman as Bradley Dawson
  • Holly Maguire as Emma Bradshaw
  • Max Ferguson as Elliot Hayes
  • Darryl Mundo as Jude Bell
  • Lex Shrapnel as Dr David Wallasey
  • Lucy Chambers as Poppy Richards
  • Steven Elder as ACC Robert Pearson
  • Lorna Brown as DCI Josephine Hardy

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When will The Bay Series 5 be on TV?

The first episode of The Bay Series 5 will air at 9pm on ITV1 on Sunday, March 2.

After that, the second episode will air in the same timeslot on Monday, March 3 with the third episode on Tuesday, March 4.

The remaining three episodes will air in the same pattern over the next Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.