Sandy's key role in ITV drama Grace and who she was after sad death (2025)

Detective Roy Grace's estranged wife Sandy formed a huge part of the drama for five series and, even after her death, she plays a key part in the upcoming episodes

Detective Roy Grace has been gracing our screens on the ITV drama for five series. For just as long, viewers have been left puzzled about Grace's estranged wife Sandy and what really happened.

After much guessing and wondering, last series, it was confirmed Sandy had ran away and had faked her death. She returned to Brighton and in some shocking scenes last year, Grace and Sandy were finally reunited before she tragically decided to end things.

As a result, Bruno is now staying with Grace and his partner Cleo as they navigate their work and complicated personal lives. Sandy was a key part in the last five series of Grace and is still a key part now.

Grace actor John Simm has opened up to The Mirror and other press about the seeming end of the Sandy story during last series.

"I was kind of torn with it, really. Because I realised the audience... we can't string them along forever about the Sandy thing. And it has been going on through the whole series, so it had to reach a conclusion, and they needed answers," John said.

"But on the other hand, I really liked it. It was a kind of spectre hanging over his head. That was his thing. He was the detective with the missing wife, and he couldn't solve it. So now that that's gone, that jeopardy in his life has gone, I was kind of worried. We can't just have a blissfully happy detective who's not an alcoholic, and he's really good at his job, and he's a pretty nice guy, and he's completely in love, and everything's fine. So I was kind of worried that that was going to be exposed a little bit. But actually, with the mind of Peter James, there's plenty of jeopardy for Roy Grace. So I needn't have been worried."

John also warned that "the repercussions of what happened to Sandy do carry on".

He said the storyline with Sandy will "inform many, many episodes to come, when we actually find out what she was involved in and the reality of the situation she was in". He warned: "That is certainly not over. There's a lot to unravel about that."

Zoe Tapper - who plays Cleo - added: "I have a feeling that Sandy is always going to be there in one form or another, and yeah, she's going to live on through Bruno. And they can't ignore that, because he's obviously in a really traumatised state as well.

"He's lost his mother, and they've got a duty to him to keep her memory alive and to try and sort of guide him through that. So yes, I think maybe physically Sandy's not there, but she's certainly going to have an ongoing consequence throughout their lives, I think."

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