VICKY MCCLURE LANDS NEW TV ROLE

Line of Duty star Vicky McClure will travel to Japan to retrace her great-grandfather's footsteps in an upcoming episode of Who Do You Think You Are?.

The BBC genealogy docuseries sees celebrities trace their family trees, with McClure set to explore Japan to find out more about her great-grandfather's harrowing experience as a prisoner of war.

The upcoming season, which also includes Top Gear's Paddy McGuinness, Mel C and Strictly winner Rose Ayling-Ellis among its guests, marks the show's 20th anniversary.

BRIT Award-nominated popstar Olly Murs, The Only Way Is Essex star Gemma Collins, and Olympic gold medallist and former heptathlon world champion Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill are also appearing in the new episodes, set to be released in the summer.

McClure has been recently seen in new Paramount+ drama Insomnia, in which she plays the role of Emma Averill, a high-powered family lawyer who stops sleeping right before her 40th birthday and starts to believe she may have inherited her mother's mental illness.

Speaking about the six-part series in a chat with Digital Spy, the Trigger Point protagonist shared the reasons why she was drawn to the series from Sarah Pinborough, who adapted her 2022 novel for the small screen.

McClure credited Pinborough's "extremely readable" writing and the sister relationship between Emma and Phoebe, who's played by Leanne Best in the show.

"I turned 40 last year, she was turning 40 in the show. I was like, this is a sign," McClure added about sharing a connection with her character.

"And then just the general difference in terms of the tone of the show and a character that I haven't really played before or for a very long time."

The new series of Who Do You Think You Are? launches on BBC One and iPlayer this summer.

Insomnia is available to stream now on Paramount+.

2024-06-11T13:52:11Z dg43tfdfdgfd