ITV first look at The Bay with Marsha Thomason as DS Jenn Townsend

A first look image of The Bay with new lead actor Marsha Thomason as DS Jenn Townsend has been released by ITV.

“Daragh and I always felt that there were so many brilliant stories to be told in the world of The Bay so, after Morven decided to leave the show, we got straight to work finding a new lead actor.

“From the moment Marsha read for the part we knew it was ‘game over’ and we’d found our new lead, DS Townsend.  We are so excited to see Marsha bring these stories to life.” –  Catherine Oldfield, Creative Director of Tall Story Pictures and Executive Producer of The Bay

DS Townsend is immediately thrown into the deep end when a body is found in the bay on her first day in the job. She must get under the skin of a grieving and complicated family if she is to get to the bottom of the premature death of an aspiring young boxer. While she’s eager to give the family answers, she also needs to prove herself as the team’s newest recruit.

The pressure is multiplied when her new blended family struggle to settle in Morecambe, proving to Jenn that a fresh start might not be as simple as relocating to a different town.

Reprising their roles are Daniel Ryan (Innocent, Home Fires), Erin Shanagher (Viewpoint, Peaky Blinders), Thomas Law (The Worlds End, A Cinderella Story) and Andrew Dowbiggin (Cobra, Coronation Street).

Joining them on the new series as guest cast are Gary Lewis, Rina Mahoney, Vincent Regan, Barry Sloane, Mark Stanley, Michael Karim, Zahra Ahmadi, Ash Tandon, Nadeem Islam and Georgia Scholes. Making their professional debuts are David Carpenter and Emme Haynes.

In the previous two series’ Morven Christie lead starred as DC Lisa Armstrong.

Top: Marsha Thomason as DS Jenn Townsend. Above: Morven Christie as DC Lisa Armstrong