ITV's Unforgotten 'to be turned into a documentary series'

ITV's 'Unforgotten' is reportedly being turned into a documentary series.

The hit crime drama - which stars Sanjeev Bhaskar and Sinéad Keenan - is inspired by real-life "cold cases" which will be highlighted in a two-part show called 'The Real Unforgotten' slated to air next year on ITV1 to coincide with the sixth season and the 10th anniversary of the detective series.

A TV insider told The Sun newspaper's TV Biz Column: "Often real-life events get featured in factual TV shows and then inspire dramas, but in this case it’s the other way around.

“ITV bosses saw this as a no-brainer and there are plenty of incredible cold cases to choose from that can feature.”

Created by Chris Lang in 2015, the show initially featured Nicola Walker as Detective Chief Inspector Cassie Stuart alongside 61-year-old 'Goodness Gracious Me' funnyman Sanjeev Bhaskar as Detective Inspector Sunil 'Sunny' Khan until series four when her character was killed in a car crash.

Sinéad Keenan, 46, later took over the female lead role as DCI Jessica James.

Nicola previously revealed she knew the fate of DCI Cassie Stuart was on the cards right from series one and her exit was a "joint decision".

She told the Radio Times: "Chris Lang and I had been discussing the storyline for Cassie since the first series.

"By the time we got to her nervous breakdown in series three, we were already talking about where that story might naturally go, so her sudden death was very much a joint decision."

Nicola added: "The title of the show is 'Unforgotten', and I think there’s a great deal of narrative beauty to this woman.

"She’s not going to be forgotten. I felt like she was quietly very unusual on television because she was a real person."