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DI Ray, not DI Voodoo Ray, sadly… that would be a cool prime-time drama.
Portrayed by Parminder Nagra, she gets a shock when she witnesses a strange man running about with a knife, and not just because of his erratic driving. Thanks to her quick thinking in resolving the situation, she gets a promotion. However, before long, she realises she got the job due to positive discrimination, which she’s not happy about.
Additionally, her culture does help her get along with those people of the same culture, although she’s clearly reticent to have that become a factor. Plus, she encounters ignorance along the way about her race.
Her first case in the new role is a ‘culturally specific homicide’, aka honour killing. There’s the accused, but are they innocent or guilty? And will all the potential evidence fit the crime when it comes to solving the case? Well, it’s a four-parter and I’ve only see the first part, and we’ll all have to see how this plays out.
Ms Nagra puts in a decent performance, and there’s also the omnipresent Gemma Whelan, here as DI Ray’s superior, DCI Kerry Henderson, recently seen in another ITV cop drama, The Tower.
I know nothing about the ins and outs of the race aspects, and for a lot of this first episode, there’s the usual stuff of talking to potential witnesses and checking links to the accused, etc.
I obviously can’t fully assess a four-part drama based on one episode, but after checking out what is a serviceable opener, it’s a decent start, and I’ll check out the rest when they’re broadcast and update nightly after each episode is broadcast.
UPDATE Episode 2:
UPDATE Episode 3:
UPDATE Episode 4:
Some final spoilery comments on the disappointing finale to a mostly disappointing series…
DI Ray begins on ITV on Monday May 2nd at 9pm. After broadcast, the whole series will be on the ITV Hub. It’s not yet available to be pre-ordered on Blu-ray or DVD.
Series Directors: Audrey Cooke, Alex Pillai
Producer: Charlotte Surtees
Creator/Writer: Maya Sondhi
Music: Edmund Butt
Cast:
DI Rachita Ray: Parminder Nagra
DCI Liam Payne: Sam Baker-Jones
PC Rob Wellington: Che Cartwright
PC Debs Knott: Demelza O’Sullivan
DS Clive Bottomley: Steve Oram
DS Maureen Groves: Rowena King
PCSO Amanda Hay: Sabrina Pui Yee Chin
Supt Ross Beardsmore: Ian Puleston-Davies
DCI Kerry Henderson: Gemma Whelan
DS Kwesi Edmund: Peter Bankole
DC Carly Lake: Jessica Temple
PS Tony Khatri: Maanuv Thiara
Tariq: Bhavik C Pankhania
Mona Aziz: Dúaa Karim
Salma Aziz: Siddiqua Akhtar
Mrs. Kapoor: Shaheen Khan
Mr. Kapoor: Simon Nagra
Kabir Kapoor: Manpreet Bachu
Navin Kapoor: Ryan McKen
Dev Ray: Ezra Faroque Khan
Darshan: Taru Devani
Smita Kapoor: Sakuntala Ramanee
Holly: Zaynah Thompson
Nadiya: Kerena Jagpal
Security Guard: Lloyd Thomas
Anjuli Kapoor: Lucky Sanghera
Zehra: Viss Elliot Safavi
Mangus Tranter: Rick S Carr
Annalie: Helen George
Debo Ray: Shobu Kapoor
Laura Milne: Lucy Phelps
Terry: Paul Copley
Yen: Georgia Goodman
Susan: Elizabeth Bennett
Min: Jan Le
Arresting Firearms Officer: Grant Crookes
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.