Guest stars have joined Shayne Ward and Catherine Tyldesley for series three of The Good Ship Murder – here’s a full cast list for episode five
Megan Nisbet Content Editor
09:30, 27 Jan 2026
Shayne Ward as Jack Grayling and Catherine Tyldesley as First Officer Kate Woods in series three, episode five of The Good Ship Murder(Image: Channel 5)
Birds of a Feather stars Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph are among the guest actors joining Shayne Ward and Catherine Tyldesley for series three of The Good Ship Murder. The Channel 5 drama, which returned for its third season in January after its Christmas special, has seen Shayne Ward reprise his role as Jack Grayling alongside Catherine Tyldesley in the role of Kate Woods.
The duo have worked with some amazing guest actors so far, incuding Casualty’s Amanda Mealing and Coronation Street’s John Michie in episode four, River City’s Sally Howitt as Dawn Blakely in episode three, while Ellie Leach starred as Mimi McQuinn and Emmerdale’s Lesley Dunlop played Carole Merryweather in episode two.
Episode five of the latest series will take Jack, Kate and the team to Cape Verde, where two merry widows, Tilly and Elsa, have embarked on a grief cruise to celebrate the lives of their departed loved ones. Birds of a Feather stars Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph play Elsa and Tilly.
While Kriss Dosanjh, known for Casualty, The Larkins, All Creatures Great & Small and Doctors, takes on the role of Noel, who becomes a suspect when Tilly winds up dead. Meanwhile, Jan Zammit guest stars as Angel Garcia and Shane Rowe plays Emiliano Goncales. Here’s everything you need to know about series three, episode five of The Good Ship Murder.
Linda Robson plays Elsa
Birds of a Feather star and Loose Women Linda Robson stars as Elsa in The Good Ship Murder(Image: Channel 5)
Linda takes on the role of Elsa, a merry widow who along with her friend Tilly has embarked on a grief cruise to celebrate the lives of their departed loved ones. When the ship docks in Cape Verde, the two of them join a small group going onshore to visit a small shrine to pay their respects to those they have lost.
Linda is best known for playing Tracey Stubbs in Birds of a Feather between 1989 and 2020. Prior to her breakout role she starred in Shine on Harvey Moon as Maggie Moon. These days she is best known for appearing on the popular ITV daytime talkshow Loose Women as a panellist.
Lesley Joseph plays Tilly
Birds of a Feather star Lesley Joseph guest stars as Tilly in The Good Ship Murder(Image: Channel 5)
Lesley plays Tilly, who is also on the grief cruise with Elsa, but when the pair join a group going onshore to visit a small shrine to pay their respects to those they have lost, Tilly becomes The Good Ship Murder’s next victim.
Like Linda, Lesley is known for Birds of a Feather, playing Dorien Green in the sitcom. She also starred in Night & Day as Rachel Culgrin and Look and Read as Miss Millington. In 2016, Lesley competed in Strictly Come Dancing alongside Anton Du Beke, she was the fifth contestant eliminated.
Kriss Dosanjh plays Noel
The Good Ship Murder on Channel 5 has a star-studded cast list(Image: Channel 5)
Kriss plays Noel, a fellow grief cruiser who becomes a suspect as he appears to have been stalking Tilly. Kriss is known for This is England and Blinded by the Light but has also starred in many other television series, including Casualty, The Larkins, All Creatures Great & Small and Doctors.
Soap fans will recongise him as Hassan Habeeb from Coronation Street, while he also starred in Emmerdale as Dr Khan. Meanwhile, Jan Zammit guest stars as Angel Garcia and Shane Rowe plays Emiliano Goncales.
The guest stars join regular cast members Shayne Ward (Jack Grayling), Catherine Tyldesley (First Officer Kate Woods), Zak Douglas (Jamil Al-Rashid), Geoffrey Breton (Piers de Vreese), and Kiza Deen (Frankie Johnson).
As well as Ross Adams (Colin Smallwood), Bex Smith (Cassie Grainger), Yuna Shin (Dr. Sharon Tan), and James Barriscal (Captain Richard Marlowe).
The Good Ship Murder series 3, episode 5 plot
Shayne Ward as Jack Grayling, Catherine Tyldesley as First Officer Kate Woods, Linda Robson as Elsa and Lelsey Joseph as Tilly(Image: Channel 5)
A synopsis reads: “Two merry widows, Tilly and Elsa, have embarked on a grief cruise to celebrate the lives of their departed loved ones. When the ship docks in Cape Verde, the two of them join a small group going onshore to visit a small shrine to pay their respects to those they have lost.
“But then Tilly is found murdered. Jack and Kate are on the case.”There are various suspects. There is creepy Noel, the fellow grief cruiser, who seems to have been stalking Tilly. There’s also shifty Angel, a restaurant critic with a secret, and Emiliano, a market trader with some shady contacts and a police record.”Piers himself also gets involved in the case, believing Angel to be involved and putting himself in danger as a result.”Meanwhile, Jack becomes concerned that Kate is hiding something from him, and Marlowe’s erratic behaviour continues. Also, Jamil continues practising for his audition for the Ents officer post, aided by Carole.”
The Good Ship Murder continues on Channel 5 at 9pm on Tuesday, January 27.
