ITV The Bay's Marsha Thomason pays tribute to new cast member as she teases 'tough time' for DC Jenn Townsend

WATCH HERE: Unforgotten returned on the 27th February on ITV1

ITV
Lauren Williams

By Lauren Williams


Published: 02/03/2025

- 02:30

The hit ITV series is returning for another thrilling installment

ITV The Bay star Marsha Thomason has opened up about working alongside her new cast member and teased there is a “tough time” ahead for her character Jenn Townsend.

The upcoming fifth series synopsis reads: “When 23-year-old university student, Hannah, is found dead on the edge of the docks, Morecambe’s MIU team has another case to solve.


Jenn, who is returning to work following the death of her father, pushes aside her own grief to support Hannah’s bitterly divided family.

With the stakes of the investigation high, Jenn and the team dig deeper into the case, they uncover hidden friendships and secret liaisons as the anger rises in the student community.

As intensity increases, and the team peel back the complicated layers of Hannah’s life and the secrets within it, Jenn must reconcile her personal and professional struggles as she grapples to solve the case, come to terms with her own loss and build bridges with her family.”

During the end of season four, Jenn was dealing with her boyfriend, Chris's ex-wife, who really put her feet under the table.

Marsha Thomason

The star opened up about what fans can expect to see in the new series

ITV

Times were tense for the family, but by the end of the season, it seemed they resolved all of their issues and were in a happy place with one another.

Jenn felt she really settled into life in Morecambe with her combined family, and they are all definitely in the best place that they could be.

Thomason recently opened up about what viewers can expect to see with the new series and how Jenn is getting on.

She explained: “Jenn has a tough time this season. Her father has passed away, which was a difficult relationship to start with. She's dealing with the grief of that.

The Bay

The ITV star also paid tribute to her new co-star

ITV

“Except in true Jenn fashion, she doesn't actually want to deal with her emotions, which is ironic given that her work as a FLO is dealing with people's emotions.

“As the series goes on, the more she pushes this away, we lead closer to the inevitable explosion. Because of the death of her father, we get to meet Jenn's mum this season, which is really fun.

“Played by Suzanne Packer, who is amazing. I've been a fan of hers for many years. Then the crime story this series, I found very touching.

“Every series and story is emotional but this series, the victim is a young woman and as a not so young woman, it resonated with me, all these women murdered.

“There is a scene where Jenn is interviewing a possible suspect and I, or rather Jenn, has this speech about women's lives being snuffed out.

“That was very emotional and dark in a way that I hadn’t expected.

The Bay

Fans are keen to see how Jenn Townsend has been getting on

ITV

“The series is always about murder but this series in particular for me, I found very emotional.

People are really going to connect with it.”