BETWEEN the lines

PARMINDER NAGRA on playing a conflicted cop in a new series from the makers of Line of Duty

- IAN MACEWAN

DI RAY

NEW HOLIDAY MONDAY-THURSDAY, 9PM, ITV DRAMA P.

Parminder Nagra shot to fame when she starred as a football-obsessed, culturally conflicted British Indian teenager in 2002 film Bend It Like Beckham.

Now, 20 years on, the ER star is headlining a new Midlands-set crime drama produced by Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio and written by actor Maya Sondhi, who played PC Maneet Bindra in the BBC1 thriller.

Set in On duty: Producer Jed Mercurio Birmingham, ITV's four-part DI Ray stars Parminder as police officer Rachita Ray, who realises her dream of working in homicide after a commendation for bravery.

However, she starts to wonder if her promotion is a token gesture as the case, the murder of an Asian man, is deemed “culturally specific.

TV Times spoke AXA to Parminder, 46, at her home in Los Angeles via video to find out more...

Why did this drama appeal to you, Parminder?

An Indian lead in a prime-time British series... I don't think that's been seen very often.

And the fact that Jed Mercurio was producing, Maya Sondhi writing, it was being filmed in Birmingham, where my family lives, and I was allowed to keep my Leicester accent - it ticked all the boxes!

What is your take on your character, DI Rachita Ray?

She's trying to figure out where she sits with everything: in her relationship, in her work, and where she wants to be careerwise. So there are a lot of question marks over her life!

But she's strong, tenacious and persistent.

How is the issue of racism addressed in the show?

There are undertones of cultural racism in Rachita's workplace, but it's subtly woven into the script and I don't feel we're banging viewers over the head.