Sanjeev Bhaksar has opened up about Unforgotten season five, and admitted that the show will be a "continuation" of the same story – so we hope Cassie will still be mentioned every so often!
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Chatting to RadioTimes.com, he said: "I think Nicola and Chris had been talking about where Cassie Stuart’s storyline would go, so I wasn’t party to that. I mean, it’s a huge thing to do and so it made sense dramatically, but yeah, it’s very upsetting actually.
WATCH: Sanjeev in the season four finale of Unforgotten
"But also, Nicola became, and is, a really good friend… so it will be very strange not to have Nicola there. But it is a continuation of the story, so in a sense, I’m sure that Cassie Stuart’s character will cast a shadow."
He added that there are no plans to replace Cassie, explaining: "Nicola is irreplaceable, so it will be a character with a slightly different dynamic. As to what that is or who that is, I don’t know. I hope that I’ll be reading with people or something at some stage, but I think the casting on all four series was excellent, it’s just been a delight to watch them work."
Are you looking forward to season five?
Nicola has previously opened up about her close friendship with Sanjeev while on This Morning. She explained: "When Sanjeev and I first met at the read-through I just knew it would work out really, really well. There's a real ease for us and it was as though we came with a history like we've known each other."
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At the time, he added: "One of the things that I certainly love about it as a fan of the writing is the layers that [writer Chris Lang] puts into the scripts. This time it's about the relationships within the police. I'm still slightly shocked that I'm in it because I didn't expect when I turned up at the audition that I would get it."
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