Jessica Gunning is to return in The Outlaws for its next series.

The actress, 38, shot to international fame as stalker Martha Scott in the runaway hit Baby Reindeer but will soon be returning to screen as Diane in The Outlaws.

She initially played the role of the former juvenile delinquent-turned-supervisor for community service in the dark crime series for five episodes in the first two series.

But the character will be back when the show -  which follows seven strangers completing a sentence on a  Community Payback scheme - lands at 30 May. 

In first look images she is seen dishing out orders to those on the course.

 Jessica Gunning is to return to The Outlaws for its next series following her rise to international fame through Baby Reindeer 

She initially played the role of the former juvenile delinquent-turned-supervisor for community service in the dark crime series for five episodes in the first two series (pictured in an upcoming episode)

The series is created by and stars Stephen Merchant and Jessica also appears alongside Eleanor Tomlinson, Rhianne Barreto and Christopher Walken in the thriller.

Twelve episodes of the Bristol-based series have been produced since 2021, with filming initially having been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.  

One picture from the set shows Jessica in character reclining on a deck chair whilst looking at her phone and sipping from a can.

A second photo shows her looking angry at those on the course whilst Stan (Harry Trevaldwyn) looks on beside her. 

The TV star has actually been in the industry for a number of years and appeared on a number of programmes before her big break.

After leaving school in Holmfirth, Gunning moved down to Sidcup in Bexley, south east London, where she studied at Rose Bruford drama school - an institution also attended by the likes of Stephen Graham and Gary Oldman.

When she left drama school, Gunning began her career onstage and won a small role in Much Ado About Nothing at the National Theatre.

One picture from the set shows Jessica in character reclining on a deck chair whilst looking at her phone and sipping from a can

A second photo shows her looking angry at those on the course whilst Stan (Harry Trevaldwyn) looks on beside her 

The actress has apppeared in five episodes of the hit comedy so far, but has since found international fame through Baby Reindeer 

The first release of the first run was was the BBC’s biggest comedy launch of 2021 and has been streamed 11m times on BBC iPlayer

The Outlaws comes multi-award-winning writer and director Stephen Merchant and also stars Eleanor Tomlinson, Darren Bou, Gamba Cole and Rhianne Barreto 

Jessica starred in the first couple of series of Outlaws but has now found acclaim through playing stalker Martha Scott in Baby Reindeer (oppsite co-star Richard Gadd)

Meanwhile, Four Lives actor Stepehn recently admitted that he was 'very pleased' about the reaction to his series after it began.

It set a record for the most-streamed comedy on BBC iPlayer in 2021 and Stephen admitted it was good to see that so many people had related to it.  

He told the Radio Times: 'The thing that I was very pleased about was the response that the audience had to the characters in the first series.

'Even the people that they wouldn't necessarily like or agree with politically, they were relating to and empathising with.'