Grace stars John Simm and Zoë Tapper have revealed that the fifth season begins on a heartbreaking note for Roy and Cleo, with the couple having lost their baby between seasons.
At the end of series four, John was finally reunited with his long-lost wife Sandy and visited her in a hospital in Munich, where she revealed that he had a son named Bruno. It came right as Roy and Cleo were preparing to expand their family with the arrival of their first child.
Ahead of series five, John and Zoë opened up about the devastating tragedy faced by their characters in a Q&A press conference.
© ITV"When we find Cleo and Roy, they are dealing with the loss of a child which has happened between the series," explained John. "So you realise quite quickly what's happened. They're also trying to deal with Bruno, who's now kind of living with them. They both have to try and bond with Bruno through obviously tragic circumstances, what happened to Sandy, etc in the previous series," continued the actor.
"It's quite heightened but great to play, you need some dramatic tension. As actors, it's much better to play something like that. It was a lovely challenge, actually."
© ITVMeanwhile, Zoë said it was "very different" returning to the show this time around. "You find out very early on that she's lost the baby, so that's the sort of first image you have of her and of them is dealing with this really devastating loss," explained the actress.
"They were really poignant, moving scenes to film and interesting in another way, because I think for Cleo, her work is so integral to who she is as a person, and she's on bereavement leave at the beginning of this series, and Roy has had to go back to work, so they're separated in their grief as well," she continued.
© ITV"She felt very isolated to me as a character at that beginning place where you first see her. But as with how this series always goes, she's then faced with quite a lot to deal with in amongst all of that, too," said Zoë.
Grace will return to screens with four new films, Dead If You Don't, Dead At First Sight, Need You Dead and Find Them Dead, all adapted from Peter James' novel series.
© ITVAs well as John and Zoë, viewers can expect to see Richie Campbell reprise his role as Glenn Branson, alongside Laura Elphinstone as Bella Moy, Brad Morrison as Nick Nicholl and Sam Hoare as Cassian Pewe.
