DI Ray explained

Genre:	Police procedural
Creator:	Maya Sondhi
Director:	Audrey Cooke Alex Pillai
Starring:	Parminder Nagra Gemma Whelan Jamie Bamber
Theme Music Composer:	Edmund Butt
Country:	United Kingdom
Language:	English
Num Series:	2
Num Episodes:	10
Executive Producer:	Maya Sondhi Paul Ashton
Producer:
Location:	Birmingham (series 1)
Cinematography:	Andrew McDonnell Al Beech
Company:	Creative England HTM Productions
Last Aired:	present
Network:	ITV

DI Ray is a 2022 British police procedural television series, known in Canada as D. I. Ray. The series was created and written by Maya Sondhi and produced by Jed Mercurio. DI Ray stars Parminder Nagra in the title role as a detective inspector in a fictitious Birmingham-based police force. The cast also includes Gemma Whelan and Jamie Bamber.^[1] The first series of four episodes aired on ITV beginning 2 May 2022. The second series aired from 16 June 2024.

Cast

• Parminder Nagra as DI Rachita Ray
• Gemma Whelan as DCI Kerry Henderson
• Jamie Bamber as DCI Martyn Hunter
• Sam Baker-Jones as DC Liam Payne
• Peter Bankole as DS Kwesi Edmund
• Maanuv Thiara as PS Tony Khatri
• Jessica Temple as DC Carly Lake
• Steve Oram as DS Clive Bottomlyy

Production

The series was filmed during October and November 2021 in locations including Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter and outside Lloyd House police station.^[2]

Episodes

Series 1 (2022)

Broadcast

The first series of four episodes aired on ITV beginning 2 May 2022.

In November 2022, it was announced that the series was renewed for a six-episode second series, which was due to begin filming in 2023.^{[3] [4]} The second series aired from 16 June 2024.^{[5] [6]}

Critical response

Lucy Mangan, writing for The Guardian, gave the series three out of a possible five stars. She praised Sondhi's use of "tangled motivations that hold the viewers' interest" to create a "police procedural with a fresh perspective" but felt that the story "at times moves a bit too slowly" and "feels a bit too by-numbers".^[7] Sean O'Grady for The Independent gave the series four stars out of five, describing the lead character as "a smart, sassy, tough telly detective" and summarising "low key in tone and atmosphere, DI Ray, cop and show, that is, deserves to be a success. Mercurio ticks another box."^[8]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Meet the cast of ITV thriller DI Ray. Radio Times. Flora. Carr. 27 April 2022. 4 May 2022.
2. Web site: Where was DI Ray filmed? Birmingham filming locations for Line of Duty creator's new ITV drama. Birmingham Mail. Talya. Honebeek. 2 May 2022. 4 May 2022.
3. Web site: DI Ray on ITV1: Will there be a season 2 of the Parminder Nagra police drama?. Fear. Helen. 5 May 2022. ED! Entertainment Daily. Digitalbox Publishing Ltd. 7 May 2022.
4. Web site: Cooper. Brenna. ITV confirms future of DI Ray with Parminder Nagra. Digital Spy. 25 November 2022. 27 November 2022.
5. Web site: Kumar . Praveen . DI Ray Season 2: Release date, cast, plot, and everything we know so far . Sportskeeda . 2 June 2024 . 24 July 2024.
6. Web site: Jacobs . Meredith . 'D.I. Ray' Finale Explained: Will There Be a Season 3? . TV Insider . 21 July 2024 . 24 July 2024.
7. Web site: DI Ray review – like Line of Duty, but with racism at every turn. The Guardian. Lucy. Mangan. 2 May 2022. 4 May 2022.
8. Web site: DI Ray, review: Low key in tone and atmosphere, Jed Mercurio's latest cop drama deserves to be a success. The Independent. Sean. O'Grady. 3 May 2022. 4 May 2022.