If you're after an action-packed thriller to sink your teeth into, check out Virdee on the BBC. Set in Bradford, the show has been compared to the likes of Happy Valley, which was also filmed in Yorkshire.
It's been adapted from a set of novels, including City of Sinners, by author AA Dhand and follows DCI Harry Virdee, a police detective grappling with a fractured home life, caused by his estranged Sikh family's disapproval of his marriage to a Muslim woman and the criminal activities of his drug kingpin brother-in-law.
"A turf war is brewing in the underbelly of the city, with the police losing its grip on gang rivalries as they spill out onto the streets of Bradford."When a young dealer is murdered, Harry’s duty to uphold the law clashes with his links to members of the crime gangs." according to the Radio Times synopsis.
"With his personal life in chaos, he must hunt down whoever is targeting those around him.
"Whilst the killer 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."
Virdee release date
Virdee, the new drama, is coming to BBC One and iPlayer on the 10th of February, 2025. Each episode will be broadcast on consecutive Mondays, but alternatively, you can stream the entire series on BBC iPlayer.
Virdee cast
Game of Thrones actor and singer Staz Nazir plays Harry Virdee, the titular character, who's happily married to Saima Virdee, played by Aysha Kala (Shameless and Indian Summers).
Joining them is Nina Singh (The Ex-Wife), who plays their niece Tara and Kulvinder Ghir (Goodness Gracious Me) as Ranjit, the patriarch of the Virdee family who has disowned his son, Harry. His wife, Jyoti Virdee, is played by Stella actress Sudha Bhuchar, and she has to live with the decision her husband made but wants the family to reunite and understands the situation from her son and daughter-in-law's side, seeing as she's Hindu and Ranjit's Sikh.
Also in the cast is Elizabeth Berrington (Stella, Waterloo Road), as Harry's boss DS Clare Conway.
The full cast of Virdee is as follows:
• Staz Nair as DCI Harry Virdee
• Aysha Kala as Saima Virdee
• Nina Singh as Tara Virdee-Duggal
• Vikash Bhai as Riaz Hyatt
• Sudha Buchar as Jyoti Virdee
• Kulvinder Ghir as Ranjit Virdee
• Elizabeth Berrington as DS Clare Conway
• Danyal Ismail as DS Khalil Amin
• Silas Carson as Jonathan Boardman
• Tomi May as Enzo Tobin
• Andi Jashy as Vasil Shala
• Jack Archer as Alastair Boardman
• Connor Horrigan as Viktor
• Silas Carson as Jonathan Boardman
• Hussina Raja as Nadia Ansari
• Sarah Pearson as Priti
• Elaine Tan as Rebecca Armitage
• Yousef Naseer as Ateeq Farooqi
• Ramon Tikaram as Jai Pawa
• Akshay Kumar as Nazir Saed
• Javed Khan as Ubaid Hyatt
• Manjinder Virk as Mandip Virdee
• Yousef Naseer as Ateeq Farooqi
• Ramon Tikaram as Jai Pawa
• Tobias Jowett as Young Harry
• Usaamah Ibraheem Hussain as Young Riaz
• Charlie Mann as Paul King
• Wissam Naseer as Aaron Hyatt-Virdee
Virdee trailer
How many episodes of Virdee are there?
There are six, hour-long episodes of Virdee in total.
AmazonArabella Horspool is a Commercial Content Writer for Yours at Bauer Media. She's a bookworm who is passionate about TV, film and theatre. She enjoys cooking, scrapbooking, playing board games and spending time with her pet dogs, tortoise and chickens.