L-R – Top row: Staz Nair (Image: courtesy of Waring McKenna), Aysha Kala (Image: Ori Jones), Vikash Bhai (Image: Faye Thomas). Bottom row: Nina Singh (Image: Jake Stewart), Kulvinder Ghir (Image: Blandine Martin), Sudha Bhuchar (Image: Harry Elletsson).
The BBC has announced the cast for the upcoming crime thriller ‘Virdee‘ from AA Dhand, based on his much-loved novels, and there has been a change in the lead actor as Staz Nair now takes the title role.
Staz Nair (Rebel Moon, Game of Thrones) will now lead the cast as Detective Harry Virdee. When the show was first announced, that role was given to Doctor Who’s Sacha Dhawan, however, he unfortunately had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. The series will also star Aysha Kala (Criminal Record, Indian Summers) as Saima Virdee, Harry’s wife. Nina Singh (The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry) plays Tara Virdee, Harry’s niece and a keen crime reporter, with Vikash Bhai (Crossfire, Limbo) as Harry’s brother-in-law Riaz Hyatt. Kulvinder Ghir (Foundation, Blinded By The Light) and Sudha Bhuchar (Expats, Rules of the Game) will play Harry Virdee’s parents, Ranjit and Jyoti.
“It’s an absolute honour to be taking on this vibrant and complex story about assimilating culture and what we’re willing to do to protect who and what we love,” said Nair. “This show leads with vulnerability more than any detective drama I’ve ever seen, and it’s a privilege to be bringing AA Dhand’s hope for his city to life.”
Set and filmed in Bradford, Virdee follows Detective Harry Virdee (Nair), a cop disowned by his Sikh family for marrying Saima (Kala), who is Muslim. Harry struggles with the abandonment and now with his young son, Aaron, growing up and asking questions, thinks it might be time to attempt to reunite with his family. His personal life in chaos, he must now hunt down a serial killer targeting the Asian community.
When the murderer kidnaps a local police chief’s son and holds the entire city to ransom, Harry realises that he is going to need the help of his brother-in-law Riaz, a drugs kingpin who runs the largest cartel in the county. Pulled together in an alliance that could ruin them both, Harry must make a choice: save himself and his family or save his city. He will not be able to do both.
Elizabeth Berrington (Good Omens, The Nevers) also joins the cast as DS Clare Conway and Danyal Ismail (All the Lights Still Burning, The Outrun) will play DS Amin. The cast also includes Tomi May (Justice League), Andi Jashy (Gangs of London), Hussina Raja (Look at Us), Ashkay Kumar (Double Blind), Madiha Ansari (Home Sick), Jason Patel (Unicorns), Conor Lowson (The Bay), and Rupert Procter (Doctors).
“A truly diverse cast, with an abundance of talent but most importantly, real passion for this show,” said Virdee creator, writer and executive producer AA Dhand. “Staz Nair brings Harry Virdee authentically to life not only with a real physical presence but also an emotional depth that instantly resonated with us all.”
The production is certainly not skimping on the music either, as the legendary, and multi-award-winning composer Hans Zimmer (Interstellar, The Dark Knight) will compose the ‘Virdee’ title theme with James Everingham and Shashwat Sachdev from Bleeding Fingers. They will also work on the series score with trainees from Bleeding Fingers and Screen Academy Bradford, to give the trainees hands-on experience of composing for the screen.
“From the moment we acquired the rights to Amit’s book, we set out on a long journey with the highest hopes and ambitions of what an adaptation of his series of Harry Virdee books could deliver,” adds Executive Producer for Magical Society, Paul Trijbits. “A first mainstream British Asian-led, returning crime series for BBC One, set in the immensely culturally diverse city of Bradford with a fascinating and deeply complex hero at its heart. Amit, who knows, lives and breathes Harry Virdee’s world has brilliantly adapted his books delivering a world that is both authentic and heightened.”
The six-episode series is adapted for the screen by AA Dhand and directed by Mark Tonderai (Doctor Who, Foundation). The series is executive produced by Paul Trijbits (Jane Eyre, The Casual Vacancy, Saving Mr Banks) for Magical Society, AA Dhand, and Jo McClellan for the BBC. Virdee is a Magical Society production for BBC One and BBC iPlayer in association with Screen Yorkshire. Cineflix Rights is the exclusive worldwide distribution partner outside of the UK.
The show makers have also partnered with Bradford Council to create Screen Academy Bradford, which offers a series of specific training programmes across all departments of TV production, enabling those who apply the chance to learn and work in the TV industry. This year’s Screen Academy cohort can be found at www.screenacademybradford.com/cohort2024
‘Virdee‘ Season 1 does not yet have a premiere date but is now filming in Bradford and will air on BBC One and iPlayer in the UK. If you want to keep track of this or any other show, you can add them via our Never Miss system, and you’ll be notified when it gets a UK premiere date.
