We are ready to be addicted by the end of episode one…
We may not know if or when we will get to return to the tension-filled world of Line of Duty but we do now know that the next best thing is on the way: a new crime thriller that is being developed by the same team, this time for ITV.
Line Of Duty’s Maya Sondhi and Jed Mercurio are getting ready to introduce us to DI Ray and, while we do not have much information on the show just yet, we do have a fairly detailed synopsis that gives us some idea as to what we should expect when it arrives on ITV, presumably next year.
Set in Birmingham, DI Ray introduces us to Leicester-born Rachita Ray (Parminder Nagra), a 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.
Rachita achieves the promotion she’s been waiting for when she’s asked to join a homicide investigation. However, on her first day, she’s told the murder to which she’s been assigned is a ‘Culturally Specific Homicide.’ Rachita’s heart sinks – she suspects she’s a ‘token appointment’, chosen for her ethnicity rather than her ability.
Never one to shy away from a challenge, Rachita sticks to the case, determined to both find the killer and call out the obvious biases her colleagues are bringing to the investigation. And it’s far from easy. The case isn’t a run-of-the-mill murder; it involves delving deep into the dangerous world of organised crime.
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Rachita is more than up for the task, but what she didn’t count on is what this case stirs up inside her; the realisation that she’s been burying a personal identity crisis her whole life. Truth is, she’s had to work twice as hard as everyone else. It’s not that she doesn’t want to be Indian, it’s just that it would have been easier if she were white.
“I am so looking forward to getting back to the UK after such a challenging time globally to be part of this exciting new project,” said the star of the new show, Nagra. “Written by Maya Sondhi and exec produced by the force that is Jed Mercurio, we are being helmed by an amazing team to bring something special to our storytelling landscape.”
“This is a project which is deeply personal for me as a British Asian Brummie woman,” screenwriter Sondhi, who played Maneet Bindra in Line of Duty, added. “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.”
Also talking about the new thriller was Mercurio who said: “Everyone at HTM Television is thrilled to be collaborating with writer Maya Sondhi, director Alex Pillai and star Parminder Nagra on such a thought-provoking series. DI Ray is first and foremost a thriller, while Maya’s writing poses complex and timely questions about the nature of personal ethnic identity.”
Filming for the series will start imminently in the Midlands and we expect it to land on our screens towards the end of next year. We’ll keep you posted with all the latest news about DI Ray as and when we get it.