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Innocent star breaks down show's "double narrative"

Photo credit: ITV
Photo credit: ITV

ITV drama Innocent returned to our screens tonight (May 17), and it looks like we've got a hell of a ride ahead of us this week before it finishes on Thursday.

While Coronation Street's Katherine Kelly plays Sally Wright, a schoolteacher who finds herself at the centre of a scandal when she's accused of having an affair with one of her students, her co-star Jamie Bamber – Sally's ex-husband Sam – has spoken out about the exciting "double narrative" it's set to serve up to viewers.

Speaking to Digital Spy and other press, he outlined how Innocent differs from other murder mystery or crime-themed TV shows.

Photo credit: ITV
Photo credit: ITV

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"Normally, you start off with a body and you try and work out who did it," Bamber said. "In this one, you start off with a community that's 'solved' it, and you have to unpick that process.

"It's a two-way journey because not only is it about a woman who was found guilty and has now been exonerated and having to reconstruct her life, and to go back to who she used to be and see if she can join the dots and become that person again and move on, there's also a new mystery to solve.

"The murderer is still out there, so there is a genuine whodunnit going on. It's a double narrative."

Photo credit: ITV
Photo credit: ITV

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Bamber went on to elaborate on how the two narratives work alongside each other, one looking to rebuild Sally's character and the other following the police trying to solve the crime.

"And every character is on that two-way process because they're trying to go back in time to work out how they could possibly have allowed this to happen and yet, they're also trying to move on with their lives," he added.

"It's recognisable ITV drama but it's much more subtle and you can't see it coming in the same way [you can in] a thriller with lots of twists. It's not trying to manipulate you in that quite cynical way."

The actor has already shared some insight into his personal feelings about the show's name, in particular why he loves it.

"It's called Innocent, but nobody is," he said. "Everyone on that jury, everyone casts judgment, everyone was part of the police investigation.

"Everyone knew the kid and wasn't there for this kid. The whole place is being tried... and you don't see that kind of complexity too often on television."

Innocent series 2 continues tomorrow (May 18) at 9pm on ITV and will be available to stream on ITV Hub.


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