ITV drama The Bay confirms Marsha Thomason is joining the cast as season 3 is confirmed

ITV drama The Bay gripped seven million viewers who tuned in to watch season two and its plot twists left fans wanting more when the series ended.

Then most of us binged watched a new Netflix drama after Martin Lewis shared Netflix hacks and now we can't stop asking why did Tully and Kate stop talking in Firefly Lane?  But as we await news of a second season of the hit streaming show, our attention turns back to ITV after some exciting news was announced.

To viewers' delight, bosses have confirmed the cast will begin filming season three - and have confirmed a new member of the team will be Lost and White Collar actress Marsha Thomason. Marsha, 45, will play Morecambe Criminal Investigation Department’s new family liaison officer, DS Jenn Townsend in the detective drama, following Morven Christie's decision to leave the show after two successful seasons.

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Speaking about the role, Marsha told her Instagram followers, 'So excited to be joining the brilliant cast of #TheBay on @itv. Can’t wait for you all to meet Morecombe CID’s new Family Liaison Officer DS Jenn Townsend.'

And fans can expect the same level of immediate action, as DS Townsend is thrown into the deep end when a body is found in the bay on her first day on the job. 

She must get under the skin of a grieving and complicated family if she has any chance of solving the premature death of an aspiring young boxer. While she’s eager to give the family answers, she also needs to prove herself as the team’s newest recruit. The pressure is multiplied when her new blended family struggles to settle in Morecambe, proving to Jenn that a fresh start might not be as simple as moving to a different town.

Written by Daragh Carville, with Furquan Akhtar co-writing season three, filming will begin on the new season in the spring, with Irma Inniss producing.

***SEASON TWO SPOILER ALERT*** 

On announcing her departure, Morven paid tribute to her co-star Taheen Modak, who played Med Kharim, until he was killed off in the middle of season two, uploaded a snap of him and captioned it, 'Day one til the end. So honoured to have spent my 2 seasons on The Bay with this guy, from fresh out of college to smashing it like an old pro.' 

She added, 'My partner, my pal, this big souled lil king. They should never have let you go, but that’s for another day. Now you get to go build your kingdom -and I’m right behind you pal. We did it. @taheenmodak.'

ITV’s head of drama, Polly Hill said, “We are delighted with the audiences’ response to The Bay and look forward to them meeting DS Jenn Townsend played by the fantastic Marsha Thomason, who joins the team in series 3.”

Reprising their roles are Daniel Ryan (Innocent, Home Fires), Erin Shanagher (Viewpoint, Peaky Blinders), Thomas Law (The Worlds End, A Cinderella Story), and Andrew Dowbiggin (Cobra, Coronation Street).

Executive producer, Catherine Oldfield added, “Daragh and I couldn’t be more delighted by the audience response to The Bay. That ITV has recommissioned the show is fantastic and to get talent as bright and brilliant as Marsha to lead the new series is beyond exciting.  We can’t wait to get back to Morecambe to start filming again in that beautiful part of the world.”