Virdee follows the trials and tribulations of police detective Harry Virdee as he tries to reconcile his work and family life in a city where tensions are running high and the lines between right and wrong are becoming blurred.
Dhand, who also wrote and created the series, said: “Virdee is an elevated thriller set in the city of Bradford which introduces DCI Harry Virdee, a formidable police detective who likes to break the rules but, ultimately, he’ll do whatever it takes to ensure the safety of his city and his family.”
And setting the scene is a title theme tune from multi award-winning composer Hans Zimmer.
DCI Harry Virdee must turn for help to his brother-in-law Riaz Hyatt (Photo: Vishal Sharma/BBC / Magical Society)He is in a loving relationship with his wife Saima but is estranged from his family who disapprove of his interfaith marriage. He is from a Sikh family and Saima is Muslim.
When a young dealer is brutally murdered, tensions among rival gangs are inflamed.
And when the killer kidnaps a local MP’s daughter and holds the entire city to ransom, Harry realises he is going to need the help of his brother-in-law and drugs kingpin Riaz, who runs the largest cartel in the county. The pair are pulled together in an alliance which could ruin them both.
He will not be able to do both.
Who is in the Virdee cast?
Staz Nair stars as Harry Virdee (Photo: David Gennard/ BBC / Magical Society)
Nair said: “The story follows a cop who has been abandoned by his Sikh family for marrying the love of his life, Saima who is Muslim.
“Harry’s love for his family and his city will be challenged as he may only get to choose one.”
He also played Gordon in Humans and William Dey in the superhero drama Supergirl.
Aysha Kala
Aysha Kala plays Saima Hyatt, DCI Virdee’s wife, in the show (Photo: Sam Taylor/BBC / Magical Society)Discussing her character, Kala said: “Saima starts the show very much in a family drama but where she ends the show is almost close to a horror, crime gangster drama.
“The thing I love about her is that she has such a sense of who she is and what she can handle so she takes everything in her stride.”
She also appeared as Sooni Dalal in Indian Summers and Ananya in The Doll Factory.
Vikash Bhai takes on the role of Riaz Hyatt (Photo: David Gennard/BBC / Magical Society)
Talking about his role, he said: “He’s a smart and successful businessman who believes he can help make his city a better place…But change doesn’t come easy, and as our show unravels – Riaz’s code of ‘business’ is challenged, his past may be coming back to haunt him and he has some very difficult decisions to make.”
Danyal Ismail
Danyal Ismail appears as DSI Amin in Virdee. (Photo: David Gennar/.BBC / Magical Society)Danyal Ismail appears in Virdee as DSI Amin.
He added: “He acts on his intuition a little too much.
“His rigidity for the law will be tested in this city where the best of intentions can lead to dire consequences.”
Virdee’s cast also includes:
Elizabeth Berrington as DS Conway (Ridley, Henpocalypse, Sanditon) Sudha Bhuchar as Jyoti Videe (Eastenders, Coronation Street, Ridley) Kulvinder Ghir as Ranjit Virdee (Goodness Gracious Me, Still Open All Hours) Nina Singh as Tara Virdee-Duggal (The Lazarus Project, Chemistry of Death) Tomi May as Enzo Tobin (Headhunters, Joan) Hussina Raja as Nadia Hyatt (Man Like Mobeen, Informer) Andi Jashy as Vasil Shala (Gangs of London, The Gentlemen) Elaine Tan as Rebecca Armitage (The Lazarus Project, Acquitted) Connor Horrigan as Viktor (Man Like Mobeen) Tobias Jowett as young Harry Virdee (William Tell, Rain Dogs)He said: “I selected most of the locations used in the series because I wanted to show my city off!
“We go to City Park, where we have the biggest water fountains there are in England with the beautiful megastructure, which is new, fresh, colourful and vibrant.
“There’s so much history in these mills too, around 200 years ago Bradford was one of the most powerful and richest cities in Europe – we made the curtains that were in the White House! “
“I was trying to choose locations that fed into the story which had an emotional backdrop to them that could mirror what was happening on screen.”
Virdee is set and filmed in the Yorkshire city of Bradford (Photo: David Gennard/BBC / Magical Society)Staz Nair said: “Bradford was so welcoming, and everyone was so excited to part of it and understand what was going on, so I think that really inspired us all to continually put everything into it.”
When is Virdee on and how many episodes are there?
This is a six-part series and the remaining episodes will be shown on successive Mondays.
All six episodes are also available to stream from Monday 10 February on the BBC iPlayer.
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