Set and filmed in Bradford, Virdee tells the story of Detective Harry Virdee, a dedicated cop whose personal life is in chaos. He is in a loving relationship with his wife, Saima, but he is estranged from his family who disapprove of his interfaith marriage.
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. 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.
Interview with AA Dhand (creator, writer and executive producer)
How would you describe the Virdee series?
Virdee is an elevated thriller set in the city of Bradford which introduces DCI Harry Virdee, a formidable police detective who likes to break the rules, but ultimately, he’ll do whatever it takes to ensure the safety of his city and his family.
You’ve written a series of books, is the series an amalgamation of all of them or just one?
It’s based on my third book, City of Sinners, but I do borrow little snippets from some of the other books.
What made you finally want to adapt your books for television?
I’d written the books as a long screenplay because I’m a very visual storyteller, so I always have pictures in my head. It just felt like a very natural progression to try and adapt it myself. There wasn’t any hesitation from me to try and adapt it and I really enjoyed it because it gave me another opportunity to dissect the books but elevate it for screen, so I could go even further.
I’ve always wanted to be a screenwriter. I grew up in a convenience store which had a video library, so I spent my youth watching videos, thrillers and the like. I’ve been raised and obsessed with movies since I can remember. I’ve always wanted to do something for screen and the novel was my way into it.
This was your first time adapting your books for screen and you wrote the scripts yourself. What has that experience been like?
It was amazing. I had a brilliant team looking after me throughout – Paul Trijbits (executive producer for Magical Society) is an experienced producer and Callum Dodgson is an experienced story producer and helped me dismantle the books and put them back together, as it’s not a straight adaptation. There are quite a few changes from the book because screen is a different medium.
I had to learn a lot. I read a lot of scripts and screenplays – every movie that I loved I’d try and get my hands on the screenplay. If I could get hold of a screenplay before the movie came out, I’d read the screenplay first so I could see it in my head first and then see it play out when I’d watch the film.
If I can watch something with the volume off and still understand what is going on, I think that’s great screenwriting. I went on a journey of watching some of my favourite movies with the sound off – Silence of the Lambs, Training Day, Terminator 2 – movies like that and I could understand what was going on. If I was watching something new, I’d also watch the first 15 minutes with the sound off so I can see if I can understand what it’s about. I taught myself some things in that way, but really enjoyed the process and experience.
Have there been any main changes from the books to make it suitable for screen?
In the books, it’s Harry’s brother who is the drugs kingpin but in the series it’s Harry’s brother-in-law as it allowed me to examine the family story with more emotional depth. It made it more complicated for Harry, which I always like because we’re writing a drama. The more complexities and emotional depth there is I think it makes it more interesting for the audience.
When I was writing the books I was always 50-50 on whether it should be Harry’s brother or Riaz (his brother-in-law) so it just felt like a natural thing when I was adapting for screen, the thing I didn’t do in the book I could actually do for screen. I wanted to explore friendship, rather than family loyalty although ultimately the series is about a divided family. What it means when you’ve got two friends who have been brought up together in a city and Harry of course married Saima, Riaz’s sister so there’s that family element to it. The actual genesis of the Virdee story is between Harry and Riaz – the relationship with Saima comes later. I was constantly thinking how could I make it complicated, how could I lean into loyalty which isn’t family loyalty, because we talk about family loyalty with the marriage.
I’ve always been really interested in the dividing line between friend and family because I think we tend to live in a world now where your friends are almost more important than your family – you see them more and you talk to them more. Some friends feel like family. For me, it allowed me to explore that in real depth and real emotion.
The series was shot and filmed in Bradford. Having grown up in Bradford, what’s that been like? How involved were you in choosing the locations and can you give examples of the key locations we’ll see on screen?
I selected most of the locations used in the series because I wanted to show my city off! I wanted to show the contrast between old Bradford and new Bradford. We go to City Park, where we have the biggest water fountains there are in England with the beautiful megastructure, which is new, fresh, colourful and vibrant. This is juxtaposed in the series with the nightmarish ruins and mills that haven’t been used for decades.
There’s so much history in these mills too, around 200 years ago Bradford was one of the most powerful and richest cities in Europe – we made the curtains that were in the White House! You see the decline of that industry in those mills but then you get to see new Bradford with City Park and the vibrancy of that. I was trying to choose locations that fed into the story which had an emotional backdrop to them that could mirror what was happening on screen.
For example, if something dark was happening we’d be in a mill and if something beautiful and light was happening, we’d be in City Park or Lister Park. Bradford is a really beautiful city.
You also worked with people from Bradford and West Yorkshire during filming, as part of the Screen Academy Bradford. How important was it to you that local people were working on the production?
It was vital. From the infancy of the show, we said that we wanted to have local people involved, to curate, develop and nurture local talent and create opportunities for them to enter this industry and see what it’s about. Bradford is one the youngest populations in England – we’ve got an enormous population that is going to be part of the future of this country.
This experience is new to me so I thought it would be great to bring other local people on the same journey. It was also an opportunity to lift the profile of the show so that, yes, we’re making a high-end show, but how can we embrace the people that this is about that are from the city of Bradford.
As well as being entertained by the series, we’ve also left a legacy in Bradford with the Screen Academy Bradford. It’s also giving people from underrepresented communities the opportunity to explore a world that they very seldom have the opportunity to do, myself being one of them.
How well do you think Staz and Aysha have brought the characters to life? What was it like working with them?
I met Staz just before his audition in the corridor believe it or not. I just bumped into him. He seemed quite nervous before going in, we both recognised each other, and I just said, “enjoy yourself.” After his audition, I wanted to meet him and it sounds really cheesy but the door opened and he walked in and there was just a change in the chemistry and atmosphere because he brought with him this aura which was Harry Virdee.
There’s no other way to explain it. It was just him and me and we had a conversation, explored each other’s lives and who we were, it was just a done deal. He just walked in as Harry Virdee and he’s done an incredible job. It’s the same with Aysha Kala for Saima, there was so much passion and belief for the show, and they had a lovely chemistry.
There’s a really exciting cast for the series, what was it like meeting and working with them but also seeing your work come to life?
It’s been incredible. Kulvinder Ghir has been a hero of mine for as long as I can remember. I was a fan of him in Goodness Gracious Me and followed him around the country when it was in the theatres, so meeting him was probably one of my highlights. I was a bit starstruck, to be honest. I said it to him too and got a selfie with him. He really opened the doors and was a ground breaker.
Vikash is so talented and the range of depth he has is extraordinary. When he’s nice he’s so lovely and when he’s dark and switches, it’s really quite frightening. Nina Singh, who plays Tara, she has this third-generation vibe about her where she’s fearless – she’s not weighted down with any baggage of representation, she’s just free to be who she wants to be.
I really enjoyed speaking to her and hanging out with her because I just envy the freedom she has and how she lives in the here and now. There was a real difference between that third-generation vibe that I got from her and I thought ‘what a great future we’ve got for South Asians if this is the way we’re going, just freedom’. I really learnt something from her.
The music is also a big part of the series and you have Hans Zimmer on board. How did Hans come on board for the series? What was it like working with him?
Hans has been an idol of mine for such a long time. I wrote all the Harry Virdee books to Hans Zimmer soundtracks and I would say I’m his number one fan, I don’t care what anyone else says! I was watching a BBC interview where they were talking about his life story and he says, “When I write my music, I write for a lady named Dorothy from Bradford who’s got a great coat”.
Paul Trijbits had told me he had worked with him and so I thought ‘hang on, the universe is telling me something’. I got my laptop out and wrote to him and I mentioned I’d just seen that interview and I was a big fan. I added, ‘I’m not called Dorothy, but I am from Bradford, and I’ve got a great coat, and I’d love to see what Hans Zimmer sounds like with a Bollywood twist.’ I left it like that and quite open-ended. A week later, completely to our surprise he emailed Paul and delivered the main theme.
Virdee is a great example of homegrown storytelling and backing British talent, why do you think that is important?
I’ve been a big BBC fan my whole life and I think the BBC is a brilliant platform for this programme. Virdee has been seven years in development and the BBC have kept going with me on this journey. I think from the moment I had written the books they were on board. It’s important to them and they’ve really championed it every step of the way.
It’s been a journey to find the right balance of storytelling and it’s important for the BBC because they are representative of South Asian talent in this country and the time has come where we show that on screen. Again, there’s been so much work that goes on behind closed doors going back to around 2015 or 2016. There’s a lot of development going on to get diverse storytelling on screen. For me, it was important because again I’ve grown up with the BBC and I’m a huge BBC fan. It was always going to be the home this went to. They’ve backed it every step of the way.
You used to be a pharmacist and decided to stop to focus on Virdee and carry on writing, what has that been like?
I’ve spent 25 years behind the counter of either a corner shop or a pharmacy. I’ve spent my whole life in customer service and retail, either looking after people or serving people. It’s been quite a change in that sense to become a full-time writer as you lose that human interaction. I’d see around 300 people a day in the pharmacy and around 200 in the corner shop, so it’s constant intel on a daily basis.
When you become a writer, it’s quiet and it’s just you and your voice. I missed the human interaction that I had, just the hi/hellos/how are yous.
On the other hand, it’s given me time to write lots more things as I’ve got more free time. I tend to write at night time so I’ve continued to do that now. The night is when the world comes alive for me as it’s quiet and its dark.
Where do the ideas of the characters come from?
That’s a good question and I wish I could tell you! I’m influenced a lot by the films I grew up with – the Rambos and the Schwarzeneggers of the world and the cheesy 90s movie trailers that start with ‘in a world where mankind has no chance…’ or something along those lines. I’m influenced by everything and anything too, sometimes conversations I have and just walking around the city.
Sometimes an idea just popped into my head. The idea for City of Sinners (which mostly transferred to Virdee on screen) came about when I was in Waterstones doing a book launch for one of the books and I looked up to the ceiling – as Bradford’s Waterstones is in the old wool exchange building so it’s magnificent – and I looked up and there was a dead Asian girl in a sari hanging from the ceiling.
That image never left my mind. I used to write in that shop so I’d look up and the ceiling and she’d still be there and as a writer your job is to find out why and once something like that in your head you can’t get rid of it. It all started from there! So sometimes it can be quite a visual image. For every novel, it’s been one seemingly impossible image that I’ve had to answer why.
Interview with Staz Nair (Harry Virdee)
How would you describe Virdee?
Virdee is a beautiful blend of genres. It’s the first time I’ve seen a series that combines a crime thriller with a family drama along with a heightened/Gotham-Esque storyline about gangland politics. I think it’s an exciting and adventurous way to tell the story. Beyond that, the story follows a cop who has been abandoned by his Sikh family for marrying the love of his life, Saima who is Muslim.
This feeling of abandonment and displacement is starting to reach the surface as his son is starting to get older and he’s starting to realise what that might mean for his son. Simultaneously, there is a serial killer who is systematically attacking the South Asian community and Bradford as a whole. Harry’s love for his family and his city will be challenged as he may only get to choose one.
What can you tell us about your character, Harry Virdee?
Harry is a man who will protect what he loves and who he loves at any cost. Every case is deeply personal to Harry, as his job is linked so deeply to his identity. He’s a man who leads with empathy and isn’t desensitised by the nature of his job. There’s also a wonderful line in the first book, Streets of Darkness, that describes Harry’s morals and it says, ‘the difference between right and wrong for Harry Virdee is as thin as a sheet of ice.’
This man lives by his own moral compass and his own moral code and will do whatever he has to do get the job done, even if that means surfing the line of the law.
What was it like meeting Amit for the first time? How was it working with him?
It’s quite a scary thing to meet the man who has been living with this story and this character for nearly two decades! For me, it was important to bond with Amit and get his blessing – that he felt I could tell this story and Bradford’s – and he very graciously did. After that, it was full steam ahead. It’s not an easy thing to translate a novel into a script but he did it phenomenally.
Not only that, but he gave space and room for the actors to have an open dialogue with him about how we can input and implement ourselves into it which took a level of trust that I really admire. It was a wonderful collaboration and I’m infinitely grateful to him. Spending time with him was invaluable to help me bring Harry Virdee to life.
What did you do to prepare for the role? It’s also quite a physical role, did you have to do any training to prepare for the stunts?
I was so blessed to take on this role of this size and with this level of legacy and cultural involvement, but it can feel quite daunting at first as there’s so much to understand, honour and respect. For me, I had to first and foremost find the similarities between myself and Harry and find where we meet and then embellish those characteristics – whether it’s his love for his family, but the complexity within the family dynamic, or his love for his wife and that being the most important thing, but that being coupled with the identity he finds from his job and how they clash.
I started with that and let it be the catalyst to keep everything moving. After that, it was understanding Bradford and spending time in the city and seeing people’s pride and sense of community there and how that is an integral part of the people of Bradford.
Physically, I actually ate a lot, which sounds counter intuitive. From reading Streets of Darkness and understanding the character, Harry Virdee is in his late 30s, he’s a father, he’s a husband who does nothing but work and then go home and love being a father and a husband. The book described him as burly, as more of a rugby-esque physique, so I was keen to make him more relatable.
Hollywood has a tendency to give everyone abs, but I didn’t think that was Harry Virdee. But at the same time the role is really physical, so I needed to make sure I maintained my fitness levels – in the opening scene Harry does a lot of running! For me, it was about eating the wonderful food in Bradford and working hard on his character.
What was it like filming in Bradford? Did you have any favourite locations?
I have so many favourite locations. One of the first scenes I did on the streets of Bradford is when Harry meets a local street dealer to find out where someone is. We were in the middle of nowhere filming down an alleyway and a lovely neighbour came by and offered us some chai, it was so lovely. This woman didn’t know us! In Saima’s dad’s house, the owner cooked for us. In the Virdee house, the owner and I sat and bonded.
Bradford was so welcoming, and everyone was so excited to part of it and understand what was going on, so I think that really inspired us all to continually put everything into it.
Are there any similarities between you and Harry?
Harry has a lot of love for his family, nothing is more important than his family to him and that’s the same for me. Harry’s job is also important to him and brings such a sense of identity in his life and brings a sense of purpose but there’s an inability to not bring it home. Your worlds have to collide, and you have to find a way to compartmentalise.
Harry is a father, a detective and a son, and the story starts when all these things are clashing. That’s something again that feels very honest and true about my own experience having to blend all these worlds and finding ways of not letting one take over the other and finding what is most important, even at the hardest of times, which is family to me.
How would you describe Harry’s relationship with Saima?
I think the amount of love he has for Saima should never be put into question. None of this deceit or the lies that exist within their relationship is because he doesn’t trust her. In terms of their relationship, there is one lie which is a burden he bears. Without giving too much away, it goes way deeper than Saima. It’s a secret that only he and one other person hold and when you start on a premise like that, it’s hard to undo that. You’re bonded with someone through horrific circumstances and it becomes too terrifying to share.
Beyond that, when we’re afraid we’ll lose someone who is so important we’ll protect them at any cost and sadly through shame or guilt, not that it’s the right thing to do, but you keep the secret from them. He thinks he’s protecting her and Aaron. The unit between Harry, Saima and Aaron is all that matters to him.
Tell us about the relationship Harry has with his family, particularly his mum and his dad.
Harry’s relationship with his family is fractured. The man that raised him has disowned him, relatively speaking, for marrying the women he loves. Losing your community is never easy and it feels like you’re losing your foundation in many ways. It’s not because of a lack of love; it’s because of pride and stubbornness. Harry is now a father himself and so he knows how it feels to love a child and it hurts him that his father was willing to throw it all away over something as simple as love.
I think his strength and softness comes from his mother. The conflict is between him and his father which has trickled down to an extent.
Harry sees a lot of himself in his niece, Tara. Like Harry, she’s relentless and she’ll do whatever she needs to get to the root of the problem. There’s a lot of symbiosis between him and Tara and he respects her for it, but he’s also scared for her because of that. He’s worried she’ll put herself into situations without thinking.
Why do you think people should watch Virdee?
There’s really something for everyone! If you like thrillers, high stakes and twists, it’s for you. If you like family drama that really delves into what we’re willing to do for those we love, the secrets we keep – then you’ve got that too. This is a show about Bradford peppered with the Hans Zimmer music and Batman/Gotham influence. It truly has something for everyone and I think what is really cool about Virdee is that it’s an almost all South Asian cast but it’s not a story about Asians for Asians. It’s a story about family, about love and loyalty – concepts that everyone understands and can relate to.
Interview with Aysha Kala (Saima Hyatt-Virdee)
It was really exciting to see a show that was predominately South Asian talent that existed in a world that felt really well rounded and had a lot of dramatic impact and wasn’t just about the family. Sometimes, it can be pigeon-holed into that world. I just loved that we do touch on lots of cultural topics, but we also go into a world that is just completely heightened and exciting.
I made a conscious decision not to read them. From quite early on, I got the feeling that this was going to be collaborative process and that we were going to create a world based on Amit’s book, as there’s a lot of things that are different in the show compared to the books. My mum had already read them and gave me some useful tips from the book, she also said Saima was an incredible character. I often read scripts and feel that some of the female characters don’t have a lot of umph to them, but my mum straight away said that this one has got some umph and that she’s a good one!
The show hops genres in a really interesting way, and I think Saima starts the show very much in a family drama but where she ends the show is almost close to a horror, crime gangster drama. Her whole world flips upside down. The thing I love about her is that she has such a sense of who she is and what she can handle so she takes everything in her stride.
That’s not to say it doesn’t affect or change her as I think she’s massively changed by the end, but she’s such a strong person that she can deal with all of this. I think it’s one of those things where you don’t know what you can deal with until you’re put in a certain situation and actually, she realises she’s stronger than she really knew she was.
Staz is an utter joy. I would describe him as an old school gentleman with a Labrador puppy energy. He’s got such strong principles and he’s a real family man. He treats everyone with incredible respect but he’s just a big kid. One thing Staz and I were really keen to show was a realistic relationship. It’s not all romance and lovey-dovey.
We wanted to show them in love but in a real way and sometimes that is the logistics – it’s finding little moments in the corridor where the characters can have a quick chat and a kiss, but then it’s also the big things like the family dramas and the moments between them that are revealed later on in the series. It was important to show them as a team because we felt like that was the key to an amazing relationship, so we really wanted that to come across.
I think it was important to set that up because as the series continues, you can see the impact of the revelations to come.
Everyone was so lovely and we all got on really well. We’ve all stayed in touch and met up after filming. I think when you film away from home you make an effort to create that and make a support system for each other. We all really wanted the show to do well, so it was nice we all had the same energy.
Wissam, who plays Aaron was so sweet. He really loves boxing so anytime Staz was on set with him, he’d box with Staz which would keep him very happy. He also loved dancing, so we’d put some music on between takes and he’d dance on cue. He was the ultimate professional and you’d never know he was five years old.
Saima is a nurse and both of my sisters-in-law are nurses. One of them works in A&E so I spoke to them about their jobs. I think the key bit of research for me was actually the Bradford accent. It is really important to all of us to get the accent right. We had a really amazing dialect coach who helped us really get into the Bradford accent.
There are lots! We had such a good time. The make-up room was a highlight as Staz would be singing all sorts of songs. We did a karaoke night one night and the boys did a group Backstreet Boys number, there is video footage somewhere… it was just so much fun.
Saima and her dad, Ubaid, have a really lovely relationship which is really lovely to see. Sometimes, in South Asian dramas, the dad and the daughter don’t get on, but I think this is a really beautiful relationship and she really relies on him. I think that fact that they lost Saima’s mum brought them all together as a family. Her sister, Nadia, is her best friend, she’s around all the time and is like a second mum to Aaron because Harry and Saima are so busy.
Her relationship with Riaz is one of the most heartbreaking in the show. Vikash did such a brilliant job playing Riaz as this character who really supresses the soft side of himself, but Riaz has to really stop himself from being close to his family, which is what he really wants. I think Saima sees that in him and knows the real Riaz so is trying to claw that out of him. I think it’s quite a sad relationship.
We did have a really warm welcome! I felt there was a real buzz about filming in Bradford and when we were filming out and about people would always be interested in what we were doing. When we did scenes in Bradford City Park, lots of people kept coming up to us and were watching what we were filming and asking when it’ll be going out. It has such an amazing buzz to it. Bradford is the biggest part of the show, so I really hope we’ve done it justice!
One of my favourite locations was Saima’s dad’s house because the people that lived there was so lovely while we were filming there – we’d talk to them, they made us tea and they kept us warm in their living room. It genuinely didn’t feel like I was working. It was lovely.
