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Marcella Series Three
Marcella Series Three “With the promise of the latest series
  being as dark as ever, the deeply
  troubled detective returns to the small
  screen with a brand new identity to go
  deeply under cover infiltrating a
  notorious and dangerous crime family
  in Belfast in the gritty and compulsive
  Marcella Series Three...”

WHILE SOLVING HORRIFIC CRIMES IN LONDON, troubled Detective Marcella Backland (Internationally-acclaimed, Emmy-winning star Anna Friel: Deep Water; Pushing Daisies) struggled to balance her family life with the crippling mental health issues that hounded her in the first and second ITV series of Marcella.

Now in its third series, Marcella sees the relentless detective with the damaged psyche working with new boss Frank Young (Hugo Speer: London Kills; Britannia) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, deep under cover infiltrating the Irish criminal underworld.

“Marcella Series Three
throws everything
into the pot to become
the riveting, must-see
walk on the dark side one
has come to expect
from this superb multi-
layered thriller...”
With her new identity as Keira Devlin and her hair dyed blonde, Marcella is living with Lawrence Corrigan (Paul Kennedy), who takes her to meet the Maguire crime family, run by ruthless matriarch Katherine Maguire (Amanda Burton: White House Farm; Silent Witness), whom Marcella is working to expose.

Corrigan is killed and Marcella makes a play for Katherine's younger son Finn (Aaron McCusker), but she is soon also running rings around elder son Rory (Michael Colgan), the family's lawyer.

Having talked her way into their home, Marcella needs to gain the trust of Katherine, the brains behind the illegal set-up and not about to trust anyone. Marcella admits to being a former police detective, but claims she has gone rogue and suggests she may even have murdered someone.

Katherine's pregnant daughter Stacey (Kelly Gough) is married to the arrogant and unpredictable Bobby Barrett (Martin McCann), who, while trying to prove himself, makes trouble for the family.

Already, Bobby has seen areas of his responsibility work against him. A number of young Vietnamese, brought into Northern Ireland illegally, are found dead in the secret compartment of a lorry, and the ensuing police investigation angers Katherine.

Katherine is helping Megan Healy (Valerie Lilley) and her teenaged daughter Jessie (Emily Flain) because Megan's husband Jack (Laurence Kinlan), who is shortly to be released from prison, did time for Finn. Tragedy awaits as Jessie is prostituting herself to pay for her secret drug habit.

Live cannon Bobby, having hired a private room at a club in London, provokes a young man, Isambard Grey (Daniel Abbott), who confronts Bobby. Bobby attacks him with a bottle and he dies in front of barmaid Alanah (Shaniqua Okwok), who is threatened and forced to claim to the Police she did not see what happened.

Meanwhile Marcella's old boss in London, DI Rav Sangha (Ray Panthaki: Gangs of London; Eastenders) has not given up on her. He leads the investigation into the killing of Isambard, the son of the Foreign Secretary, and is heading to Belfast to interview Bobby.

In an ill-advised attempt to please Katherine, Bobby shoots part-time drug dealer Aaron Armstrong (Ciaran Flynn), witnessed by Aaron's younger brother with Down's Syndrome whom he looked after.

With family in-fighting and Marcella under suspicion, her contact's lack of support and a corrupt policeman could well blow her cover. Marcella also warns Rav not to come to Ireland.

More tragedy is to come and someone from the past throws Marcella's otherwise water-tight cover. There is only one way to end the Maguire's underworld activities; but will Marcella finally confront her demons? Marcella Series Three throws everything into the pot to become the riveting, must-see walk on the dark side one has come to expect from this superb multi-layered thriller.

Marcella Series Three also features: Michael Colgan as D C Eddie Lyons; Nigel O'Neill as The Driver; Jorin Cooke as Conor Scott; Mark Aiken as Alexander Monroe; Orla Mullan as DS Roz MacFarlene; Jim Dornan as Deputy Chief Constable; Zahra Ahmadi as Sadie; and Shaniqua Okwok as Alanah.

Music is by Lorne Balfe; Director of Photography is Sam Care and Dirk Nel (1 episode); Created by Hans Rosenfeldt (Scandi Noir legend & Writer-Director of The Bride) and Nicola Larder; Written by Hans Rosenfeldt with David Allison, Tim Loane, Emer Gillespie, Matthew Thomas, Mike Walden and Paul Waters; Producers are Amanda Black (2 episodes) and Elliott Swift (1 episode); Executive Producers are Nadia Jaynes, Sue de Beauvoir and Ashley Pearce; and Directed by Gilles Bannier with Ashley Pearce.

* Following the UK premiere on ITV, the highly-anticipated third series of Marcella springs into action on DVD, courtesy of Acorn Media International, accompanied by Marcella: Complete 1-3 DVD Box Set on 15 March 2021. Marcella Series Three is also available digitally to download weekly from 27 January 2021.

Marcella Series Three DVD: Certificate: 15 | Running Time: 270 Minutes on 2 Discs | Catalogue Number: AV3564 | RRP: £24.99.

Marcella Series 1-3 DVD Box Set: Certificate: 15 | Running Time: 1,350 Minutes on 6 Discs | Catalogue Number: AV3565 | RRP: £39.99.

"Marcella Series Three throws everything into the pot to become the riveting, must-see walk on the dark side one has come to expect from this superb multi-layered thriller" — **** Maggie Woods, MotorBar

"Skilful Scandi noir" — The Guardian

"Grim, but gripping from the start" — Mail on Sunday
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