New crime drama DI Ray arrives on ITV early next month – with Bend It Like Beckham star Parminder Nagra taking on the title role as Birmingham-based police officer Rachita Ray.
The four-part series boasts Line of Duty boss Jed Mercurio as an executive producer, and if quotes from the new show’s creator Maya Sondhi are anything to go by, it looks like we can expect some twists and turns that wouldn’t be out of place in the hit BBC drama.
Sondhi – who herself starred in Line of Duty as Maneet Bindra – said that it had been “amazing” to work with Mercurio, and hinted that he had been a real guiding influence for the show.
“My strength is dialogue, but I’m not really too good with story, whereas he’s so good at plotting things, and at twists,” she explained.
“I could just write two people talking in a room for hours, but I’ve learned so much from Jed about how to hook in audiences and keep them watching.
“There are probably a few ‘Jed-influenced’ plot twists in there – not red herrings, or ‘Jed herrings’ as we call them, but hopefully a few surprises,” she added.
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According to a synopsis for the series, Rachita Ray is a Leicester-born police officer “who takes on a case that forces her to confront a lifelong personal conflict between her British identity and her South Asian heritage”.
The drama also stars Gemma Whelan (Game of Thrones, Killing Eve), Jamie Bamber (Battlestar Galactica, Law & Order: UK), and Maanuv Thiara (Landscapers), while Audrey Cooke and Alex Pillai serve as series directors.
“This is a project which is deeply personal for me as a British Asian Brummie woman,” Sondhi said of the show. “It’s only in the past 10 years or so I’ve really been able to truly embrace my heritage. So much of this show is my story and in telling it honestly, I hope others from all different backgrounds will relate.”
DI Ray will debut on ITV on Monday 2nd May 2022. For more to watch, check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
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