Virdee: New BBC One book-to-television adaptation starts filming in Yorkshire

Set and filmed in the Yorkshire city of Bradford, casting for the book-to-television adaptation of AA Dhand’s Virdee has been announced.

Virdee follows Detective Harry Virdee (Staz Nair), a cop disowned by his Sikh family for marrying Saima (Aysha Kala), who is Muslim.

A synopsis for the show stated: “Harry struggles with the abandonment and now with his young son, Aaron, growing up and asking questions, he 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.”

Staz Nair (Rebel Moon, Game of Thrones) will lead the cast as Detective Harry Virdee, with 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.

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 Virdee 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) Rupert Procter (Doctors).

Virdee creator, writer and executive producer AA Dhand said the cast is a “truly diverse” on with “an abundance of talent but most importantly, real passion for this show”.

"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,” he added.

Multi-award-winning composer Hans Zimmer (Interstellar, The Dark Knight) will also be composing the Virdee title theme with James Everingham for Bleeding Fingers and will also feature Shashwat Sachdev.

Trainees from Screen Academy Bradford will also be joining Bleeding Fingers to get hands-on experience in composing for screen and to assist with the composing of the series score.

On playing Harry Virdee, Staz Nair said taking on the role is an “absolute honour”.

“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,” he said.

"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.”