ITV has announced the commission of a fifth season of Scott and Bailey.

Three new episodes will tell a single story “with scale and ambition as Scott and Bailey tackle one of the biggest and darkest cases they have ever had to face.”

Suranne Jones and Lesley Sharp will both return as the titular crime-fighting partnership.

Scott and Bailey launched in 2011 and the crime drama’s eight-part fourth season concluded on ITV last October.

> Buy Season 4 on DVD on Amazon.

Suranne Jones commented: “I’m very excited to be returning to the series as Rachel Bailey and this time to be working alongside Nicola Shindler as an Executive Producer.”

The official synopsis for Season 5 reads: “With DCI Gill Murray in retirement, ever-ambitious Rachel returns from her Vice secondment fired up and full of new ideas and initiatives. She’s gained valuable experience and really wants to make her mark as she returns to Syndicate 9’s Murder Squad.

“Exhilarated to step up to the plate, Rachel is exactly who Janet and the Squad need to move forward with a terrifying and sinister Internet crime investigation of epic scale and unrelenting horror. Using her Vice authorisation, Rachel accesses a disturbing world where people brag about committing murder and lay down the gauntlet for the next victim.

“A game of ruthless life or death daring develops, as Scott and Bailey investigate multiple killers with horrifying and everlasting consequences. They will be changed forever and the investigation will take a devastating toll on their private, professional and personal lives.”

Written by Lee Warburton (Shameless, Banana) and Paul Logan, the new episodes will begin filming in Oldham, Manchester in September.

ITV’s Director of Drama Commissioning Steve November commented: “Scott and Bailey is a firm favourite with ITV viewers who relate to the characters’ busy professional and working lives. We’re thrilled Red are reuniting Suranne and Lesley to play the iconic characters so deftly created by Sally Wainwright and Red’s production team.”

Are you looking forward to Season 5? Let us know below…