5 has released the first images from An Impossible Way to Die, a new six-part detective thriller starring Sharon Rooney and Emmett J Scanlan. Rooney, recently seen in The Celebrity Traitors and best known for My Mad Fat Diary, plays DS Katie Salter, while MobLand star Scanlan takes on the role of DI Niall Conway. The new crime drama is set to air on 5 in 2027 and begins with a murder scene involving four bodies, a dinner table and one very unusual clue.

What Is An Impossible Way to Die About?

An Impossible Way to Die begins with a very unusual murder scene, as four people are found dead around a table set for what looks like a dinner party, with a scorpion crawling from the mouth of one of the victims.

Katie is used to a much quieter side of policing, dealing with everyday local cases while balancing the job with her family life. Smart, diligent and measured in the way she works, she is suddenly pulled into something bigger when the murder investigation puts her alongside DI Niall Conway, whose intense dedication to the case quickly clashes with her own approach.

As the investigation continues, the detectives begin uncovering secrets and connections between cases that at first seem unrelated. With more lives placed in danger, Katie and Niall are left trying to work out how everything fits together and identify the killer before anyone else becomes a victim. The six-part series is described as a character-driven crime drama exploring identity, protection, power and corruption.

Who Is in the An Impossible Way to Die Cast?

Sharon Rooney leads the series as DS Katie Salter. Alongside My Mad Fat Diary and her recent appearance on The Celebrity Traitors, Rooney’s credits include Two Doors Down, Dumbo, Barbie and The Revenge Club.

Emmett J Scanlan stars opposite her as DI Niall Conway. Scanlan currently plays Paul O’Donnell in MobLand, with other recent credits including Gangs of London, A Working Man and How to Get to Heaven from Belfast.

The cast also includes Lois Chimimba, known for Coldwater and Vigil, alongside Jonny Lavelle and Ashley McGuire.

Adam Wimpenny directs the series, with Jillian Mannion, Ciara Conway, David Persiva, Robin Ganderton and Rowena Johnson among the writers. Mike Benson and Myf Hopkins serve as executive producers for Clapperboard Studios, with Amber Howorth producing.

When Is An Impossible Way to Die on Channel 5?

An Impossible Way to Die is scheduled to air on 5 in 2027, although an exact release date has not yet been announced. The first-look images give us our first proper look at Rooney and Scanlan together as Katie and Niall, with the pair already appearing to be deep into the investigation at the centre of the series.

For CultureCues, we were already interested from the second we read the setup, but the cast has made us even more excited for this one. We love Sharon Rooney, and we are always happy to see a brilliant Scottish actress leading a new series. Katie also looks like a different kind of role from some of the characters we are used to seeing Rooney play, so we are really looking forward to this and have every confidence she will smash it. Emmett J Scanlan is a phenomenal actor too, so this pairing already feels like a winner. Add in four bodies around a dinner table, a scorpion crawling from one of their mouths and a case that only gets stranger from there, and we are very ready for this one.

An Impossible Way to Die will air on 5 in 2027, with an exact release date still to be announced.

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