Marcella fans have at least two things to be excited about right now – the fact the series is coming back for a third series later this year, and that TV legend Amanda Burton is joining Anna Friel in the cast!
And, while both actors rose to fame on 90s soap Brookside, this will be the first time the pair have ever appeared onscreen together.
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TV addicts will know the heroine of the ITV police drama Anna found fame on Brookside between 1993 and 1995.
Her portrayal of Beth Jordache threw her into the celebrity stratosphere when she was one-half of TV’s first ever pre-watershed lesbian kiss – and the fact her dad Trevor was murdered and buried under the patio (but don’t worry, he deserved it).
In a very welcome TV twist, fellow Brookside star Amanda Burton has signed up for the third series of Marcella, too.
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According to The Sun, Amanda and Anna will combine forces on the ITV thriller – although they never appeared opposite each other in Brookside.
Amanda, who played Heather Huntingdon from 1982 to 1986, had already left well before Anna joined the Liverpool soap opera.
A TV source told the newspaper: “Bosses are chuffed to have signed Amanda for the new series.
“They start filming together in Northern Ireland shortly, and Amanda has been excitedly telling pals how much she’s looking forward to the series and working with Anna.”
In the show, Marcella is a dedicated detective who suffers from dissociative fugue, which leaves her with memory loss.
Marcella fans were left dumbfounded at the end of the second series when it was revealed SHE was responsible for the death of her baby Juliette.
The mystery was finally solved when Marcella consulted a therapist under hypnosis and managed to retrieve hidden and repressed memories.
In flashbacks to the day of Juliette’s death, Marcella was seen trying to soothe a bawling baby.
But it seems Juliette died by her mother’s own hands, with the suggestion Marcella had smothered her to death.
The revelation proved too much for a distressed Marcella, who seemed ready to jumped from the roof of the police station and take her own life until colleague DI Rav Sangha intervened and talked her down.
However, she had no intentions of handing herself in, and after belting Rav with the lid of a toilet cistern, Marcella went on to cut her hair and brutally slash her own mouth with scissors before going on the run.
A colleague discovered her sleeping rough under train arches and informed Marcella she was presumed dead after an abandoned house used by squatters was destroyed in a fire.
He told her: “The bodies were so badly burned, they had to use DNA to identify them.
“Couldn’t match two of them, but they were able to identify the third. Marcella Backland – DS Marcella Backland.”
The officer continued: “For some reason there’s been a mixup with the DNA. So now, you’re dead.
“The department I work for could use a dead police officer to go undercover. What do you say?”
And therein lies the makings of a juicy third series of Marcella…
Will you be tuning in to the third series of Marcella? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think!