Season 5 Cast and Characters: The Lineup
Learn more about the strategic and dogged crime-fighters and the mysteriously interwoven suspects of Unforgotten Season 5. From returning favorites to new faces, we’ve got a robust case file to help you to keep all the players straight, including where you’ve seen them before and some fun facts.
- 1.
Detective: Sanjeev Bhaskar as DI Sunny Khan
Sanjeev Bhaskar as Sunny Khan in Unforgotten Season 5 The Role: For five seasons, Bhaskar has starred as DI Sunil “Sunny” Khan, the affable, dedicated, and loyal right-hand man to DCI Cassie Stuart (Nicola Walker) and now to DCI Jessica James (Sinéad Keenan).
Before Unforgotten: Aside from his beloved role in Unforgotten, Bhaskar is also known for his work on the British sketch comedy series Goodness Gracious Me (1998), film Yesterday (2019), and the zany satire series that he both co-created and starred in, The Kumars at No. 42 (2001). Bhaskar also made earlier MASTERPIECE series appearances, such as in a Season 1 episode of Indian Summers and in Season 7 episodes of Inspector Lewis.
Fun Fact: Bhaskar added author to his resume when when he wrote India with Sanjeev Bhaskar: One Man’s Personal Journey Round the Subcontinent, a Sunday Times (UK) bestseller, after hosting a BBC2 documentary series by the same name.
Learn More:
Read an all-new interview with Bhaskar about Season 5 and more.
Discover more surprising facts about Bhaskar.
- 2.
Detective: Sinéad Keenan as DCI Jess James
The Role: Sinéad Keenan joined the Season 5 cast as DCI Jessica James, the tough and abrupt new team leader trying to fill Cassie’s big shoes.
Before Unforgotten: Keenan may be best known for her roles in the series Being Human, alongside Aidan Turner (Poldark) and Russell Tovey (Flesh and Blood); Doctor Who, during David Tennant’s (Around the World in 80 Days, Harry Potter) final episodes; and the final season of Derry Girls. Sinead’s past film roles include Sunburn, co-starring fellow Irish actor Cillian Murphy of Peaky Blinders and Oppenheimer fame.
Keenan also starred in 2017’s Little Boy Blue, based on the true story of the shocking murder in Liverpool of an 11-year-old boy named Rhys Jones. For her role as the boy’s mother, Keenan won a Royal Television Society Programme Award in 2018, and was nominated for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award.
Fun Fact: Her sister Gráinne Keenan is also an actor (as well as their brother Rory Keenan!) and has played a number of roles alongside her big sister over the years — including in Unforgotten Season 5 as DCI James’ sister Debbie.
Learn More:
Read an all-new interview with Sinéad Keenan about joining the team in Season 5.
Discover more surprising facts about Keenan.
- 3.
Detective: Carolina Main as DS Fran Lingley
The Role: Main plays DS Fran Lingley, who joined the cast in Season 2 and is a vital member of Sunny and Jess’ team. But after the untimely death of Cassie, Fran and crew struggle to accept DCI James and her leadership style.
Before Unforgotten: Main appeared in the second episode of the very first season of Grantchester in 2014 as Lilian Calthorphe. She also appeared in a 2019 episode of Midsomer Murders, and two episodes in the second season of Dalgliesh.
Fun Fact: Main starred in the crime series Blood (2018) as Cat Hogan, a woman whose mother’s death may not have been as accidental as they all thought. Starring right alongside Main was none other than Grainne Keenan, sister to Unforgotten star Sinéad Keenan, as Cat’s sister Fiona.
- 4.
Detective: Jordan Long as DS Murray Boulting
The Role: Long plays DS Murray Boulting, another member of the crime-solving crew, who has worked alongside Sunny and team since the very first episode of the series. Boulting, like his fellow team members, is grieving the loss of Cassie while also having trouble adjusting to new boss DCI James.
Before Unforgotten: Long has appeared in a number of hits throughout his career, including Andor (2022), Persuasion (2022), and Good Omens. Eagle-eyed MASTERPIECE fans may even recall Long from Prime Suspect: Tennison as DS Paul Lawrence and a Season 3 episode of Downton Abbey as a taxi driver.
Fun Fact: Not only have you seen Long, but you may have heard him, too! Long is a voice actor as well as a screen actor, and has lent his vocals to video games such as Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate.
- 5.
Suspect: Ian McElhinney as Lord Tony Hume
The Role: McElhinney plays Lord Tony Hume, a member of the House of Lords – and a suspect in the case of Precious Falade’s death after her body was discovered in a chimney flue.
Before Unforgotten: McElhinney may be best known for his roles in Game of Thrones as Ser Barristan Selmy, in Derry Girls as grandfather Joe McCool, and in the film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as General Dodonna.
Fun Fact: McElhinney may be a well-recognized actor these days, but acting wasn’t, in fact, his first career. Before the Belfast born actor began his screen career at the age of 30, McElhinney studied international affairs at Brandeis University in Massachusetts, and went on to be a teacher at Goole Academy in Yorkshire, England.
- 6.
Suspect: Rhys Yates as Jay Royce
The Role: Yates plays Jay, another suspect with personal ties to the victim. He lives in a run-down apartment with his girlfriend, who is addicted to drugs. Jay continues to provide drugs for her, despite the trouble he’s found himself in as a result.
Before Unforgotten: Prior to his suspicious days in Unforgotten, Yates appeared in series such as The Outlaws (alongside Christopher Walken), Silent Witness, and Britannia.
Fun Fact: As a teenager in London, Yates took part in a program called The Prince’s Trust, a UK based charity founded in 1976 by King Charles III (the Prince of Wales at the time) that helps vulnerable people from disadvantaged communities ranging from 11-30 years old to “build the confidence and skills to live, learn and earn” according to their website.
- 7.
Suspect: Max Rinehart as Karol Wojski
The Role: Rinehart plays Karol Wojski, a Polish man living a new life in Paris with his girlfriend. Before Paris, Wojski’s life was based in London where he worked as a social worker, and was somehow connected to the criminal case at hand.
Before Unforgotten: Prior to his days as a man with a mysterious past in Unforgotten, Rinehart appeared in series such as Jekyll and Hyde (2015) as Louis Hyde and the long-running British soap opera Hollyoaks.
Fun Fact: Rinehart’s journey to acting and his love of performing started off in a somewhat unique back when he was in school. “I was too unsure of myself to do [drama]. Until I went to an audition for a school play as a ‘joke’, got the part, thought this is unlike anything I could have possibly have imagined, and there was no going back.”
- 8.
Suspect: Martina Laird as Ebele Falade
The Role: Laird plays Ebele Falade, a woman running a successful vegan restaurant with her partner and mother to the victim, Precious Falade. Ebele finds herself under the team’s spotlight as a suspect in Precious’ death.
Before Unforgotten: Movie fans may recognize Laird from the hit, summer 2023 film The Little Mermaid (which starred MASTERPIECE’s Little Women and World on Fire actor Jonah Hauer-King). Laird has also appeared in series such as Casualty as well as the spin-off series, Casualty @ Holby City, as Comfort Jones, and in the long-running British soap opera EastEnders.
Fun Fact: In addition to winning two acting awards from the Michael Elliott Foundation and the BFM (Screen Nation) for her role in Casualty, Laird was also nominated for the Best Actress Evening Standard Award for her role in Moon on a Rainbow Shawl at the National Theatre in 2012.
