---
title: "Unforgotten"
year: 2015
kind: "series"
canonical: "https://film.one/tv/unforgotten"
fi1m_score: 64
critics_reviews: 3
published: "2026-09-17T15:19:34.754766+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-17T15:19:35.076790+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Unforgotten (2015)

Created by Chris Lang · 46m · MPA TV-MA · Drama, Crime, Mystery

**Fi1m score: 64** · Critics: 3 of 6 reviews so far

*In a sentence:* A police drama in which everyone seems to have brought their own subplot

> Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar make *Unforgotten* worth trying, but its crowded storytelling and uneven dialogue limit the reward. This is a police drama for viewers prepared to stay for the performances.

## Synopsis

DCI Cassie Stuart (Nicola Walker) and DS Sunil ‘Sunny’ Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar) are the detectives at the centre of *Unforgotten*. Their police work sits alongside several personal stories, with an ensemble that includes Sir Phillip Cross (Trevor Eve) and Father Robert Greaves (Bernard Hill). DS Murray Boulting (Jordan Long) and DC Jake Collier (Lewis Reeves) also feature among the police characters. Written by Chris Lang and directed by Andy Wilson, the first series follows its mystery across six episodes, moving between the investigation and the people surrounding it.

## Review

Chris Lang’s *Unforgotten* is a decent police drama whose cast deserves a less crowded script. It wants us to take an interest in several people, rather than simply wait for a detective to identify the culprit. That is a sound ambition for a series built around an investigation. The difficulty is giving each of those people enough time to matter, and the acting often persuades us to stay when the storytelling does not.

Nicola Walker, as DCI Cassie Stuart, and Sanjeev Bhaskar, as DS Sunil ‘Sunny’ Khan, give us a good reason to begin. They make the detectives worth listening to even when the dialogue is working too hard to keep us informed. Their work gives the police scenes a steadiness that makes the surrounding changes of focus more noticeable. We would have welcomed more time with them and fewer interruptions from the other narrative strands.

The supporting cast makes that complaint slightly awkward, because these are hardly people we want dismissed. Trevor Eve plays Sir Phillip Cross, while Bernard Hill plays Father Robert Greaves. Both help make the separate stories seem worth pursuing, even when the series struggles to keep them all in motion. The result is a succession of promising characters whom we do not always get to know well enough.

Chris Lang’s dialogue is uneven in ways that the performances cannot always cover. At its most convincing, it gives the actors room to suggest a person beyond the immediate needs of the inquiry. Elsewhere, we can hear the effort of making sure the audience has understood, and the speech loses the untidiness of ordinary conversation. Those passages are especially exposed beside the more convincing exchanges, which the same cast handles with much less apparent effort.

Andy Wilson’s direction is strongest in its handling of the ensemble, where the series finds much of its credibility. The trouble comes when another story needs attention and the focus moves before our interest has properly settled. Michael Price provides the music, but the score cannot make those repeated shifts feel less disruptive. What the series needs at those points is more time with the person already in front of us.

We were frustrated when the story moved away from Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar; the other strands kept interrupting our interest in their detectives. That frustration matters more here than it would in a brisk puzzle designed chiefly to keep us guessing. The first series has six episodes, and its attempt to give so many characters their due leaves some of the emotional work unfinished. The performances remain watchable even when our interest in the case starts to wander.

As an ensemble police drama, *Unforgotten* needs its separate stories to strengthen our interest in the investigation. Too often, they delay it. There is enough good acting here to make the series a reasonable choice for a patient evening, but we would not recommend it simply for the mystery. Try an episode for the cast, and see how much patience the rest earns.

*Fi1m score 64, published 17 September 2026.*

### Reviews we read (3)

- **The Times**, Andrew Billen (★★★★★): The reviewer calls Unforgotten a distinguished piece of work with credible dialogue and an experienced cast that delivers memorable performances. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/tv-review-unforgotten-the-last-kingdom-mzsz5wn3vtb)
- **The Guardian** (60/100, inferred): The reviewer praises the magnificent cast but criticizes the dodgy, unrealistic dialogue in the opening episode of the ITV series. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/oct/09/unforgotten-review-nicola-walker-sanjeev-bhaskar)
- **The Telegraph**, Chris Bennion (40/100, inferred): The detective drama feels like it has run out of puff before the finish line. The critic praises the premise and cast but finds the many competing narratives prevent real investment in the characters or emotional payoff. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/tv-and-radio-reviews/11978358/Unforgotten-episode-five-review-hard-to-love.html)

## Details

- **Created by:** Chris Lang
- **Creator:** Chris Lang
- **Director:** Andy Wilson
- **Writer:** Chris Lang
- **Music:** Michael Price
- **Producer:** Carmel Maloney, Guy de Glanville
- **Cast:** Nicola Walker as DCI Cassie Stuart; Sanjeev Bhaskar as DS Sunil 'Sunny' Khan; Sinead Keenan as DCI Jessica 'Jessie' James; Carolina Main as DC Fran Lingley; Jordan Long as DS Murray Boulting; Lewis Reeves as DC Jake Collier; Pippa Nixon as DC Karen Willetts; Georgia Mackenzie as Dr. Leanne Balcombe
- **Runtime:** 46m
- **Certificate (MPA):** TV-MA
- **Release (the US):** 8 October 2015
- **Genres:** Drama, Crime, Mystery
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlatYb2vrLE

## Where to watch in the US

- Amazon Prime Video: streaming
- Amazon Prime Video: add-on
- Amazon Prime Video: buy, sd
- Apple TV: buy, sd

*Checked 2026-09-17.*

Also available in: AT, AU, CA, DE, DK, FI, FR, GB, IE, IN, NO, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Prime Suspect* (1991): For another commanding detective performance, with institutional hostility complicating the police work.
- *The Killing* (2007): A Danish investigation that gives grief and political consequences room to develop.
- *Memories of Murder* (2003): A Korean procedural where failed detective work becomes funny, then deeply troubling. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/memories-of-murder.md)
- *The Secret in Their Eyes* (2009), Fi1m 78: An Argentine mystery that takes the lasting personal consequences of investigation seriously. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-secret-in-their-eyes.md)
- *Broadchurch* (2013), Fi1m 81: Another British ensemble whose investigation exposes the strains within an entire community. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/broadchurch.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/unforgotten