Production is underway in Bradford on Virdee, a major new crime drama for BBC One. 
 

The 6 x 60’ run is adapted by AA Dhand from his series of novels about Harry Virdee, played by Sacha Dhawan, a Bradford cop whose Sikh family has disowned him due to his marrying a Muslim woman.

When a murderer kidnaps a local MP’s daughter and holds the whole 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…
 

Virdee is produced by Paul Trijbits’ Magical Society; Trijbits exec produces alongside Dhand and Jo McClellan for the BBC. The producer is Stella Nwimo; the project is made in association with Screen Yorkshire. 
 

When the project was first confirmed by the BBC, Dhand said: “Like me, DCI Harry Virdee is a proud Brit who dreams big and whilst he is passionate about his heritage, it is not something which solely defines him. He refuses to be shackled by the past and believes in merging worlds, cultures and identities; no matter the cost. Hey, aim big or go home – this is Yorkshire.”
 

Trijbits added: “Working with Amit [Dhand] to get the Harry Virdee books to the screen has been a long but utterly satisfying journey. It’s no mean feat for Amit to have succeeded in adapting this love story set in such a rich and complex world and wrapping it all up in a crime series.”
 

Virdee is part of the lead-up to Bradford being City of Culture 2025. To support the production, The Screen Academy Bradford has been set up to deliver a series of bespoke training programmes across all departments, designed to address specific crew shortages and skills gaps, particularly among underserved groups in Bradford.

The academy is spearheaded by Magical Society and supported by the BBC, the HETV Skills Fund delivered by ScreenSkills, Bradford Council, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Tracy Brabin Mayor of West Yorkshire and Screen Yorkshire. The academy producer is Ameenah Ayub Allen (Ali & Ava, Rocks).
 

Sacha Dharwan image credit: David Reiss.