THE first episode of the second series of eagerly anticipated drama Prey — created by Horwich writer Chris Lunt and starring Bolton actress Sammy Winward — will air on December 9.

ITV has confirmed that the three part series will hit our screens next month at prime time, being screened at 9pm.

The first series of the show, which starred John Simm, earned Bafta and RTS nominations and attracted an average of 7.2 million viewers.

Simm's Life on Mars co-star Philip Glenister takes centre stage in the latest series as prison officer David Murdoch.

Sammy Winward plays his pregnant daughter Lucy, whose life is threatened.

When her father learns of this while on a routine visit to a Manchester hospital, in his desperation Murdoch chains himself to chains himself to female prisoner Jules Hope, played by MyAnna Buring, and becomes the prey.

Rosie Cavaliero returns to reprise her role as Detective Superintendent Susan Reinhardt, and follows in pursuit.

The show was shot on location across the North West, including a scene at the Wilson and Co Vauxhall dealership on Manchester Road in Bolton which was transformed into a TV set for two days of filming.

Mr Lunt, who was named as one of Bafta's Breakthrough Brits following the success of the show, says being a father-of-two himself influenced his writing of the show.

He said: “I don’t feel I could write Prey if I was not a father myself. That is at the heart of the story. What Murdoch does for his daughter is exactly what I think I’d be prepared to do.

“This second series might also be called ‘Preys’ because we have MyAnna Buring as prisoner Jules Hope who is with David Murdoch on the run. The character of Jules is the linchpin of the entire drama. Who is she and what she is about?

“Murdoch has a mission to save his daughter, but we don’t know whether we should trust Jules or not, whether she’s manipulating or helping him.”

Soap star Sammy, who played Katie Sugden in Emmerdale, said there was a lot of differences between working on Prey to her previous show.

She said: “With Prey we got a lot more time.

“I had an hour in rehearsal with Lewis Arnold (director) on my own to discuss things about the character and his approach.

“We had time to talk before scenes were filmed and change anything.

“With Emmerdale it was a lot more fast paced, as we used to have twelve, maybe thirteen scenes to complete a day.

“Credit where credit is due as it’s a lot of filming to get through in not much time.”

The cast for the new series also includes Ralph Ineson, who played Chris Finch in The Office, as Reinhardt's boss DCI Mike Ward, Oldham actors Kieran O’Brien and Lisa Millet.