FORCE to be reckoned with

PARMINDER NAGRA on how her detective drama is upping the stakes for Season 2

- STEVEN PERKINS

DI RAY SUNDAY-TUESDAY, 9PM,

ITV1 DRAMA (BOX SET, ITVX)

When a notorious crime boss is killed in a drive- by shooting outside a Birmingham hospital, it’s a race against time to prevent an all-out turf war as ITV1’s police procedural DI Ray returns.

The case brings DI Rachita Ray (ER’s Parminder Nagra) back into the fold of the (fictional) West Central police force’s homicide squad, two months after being suspended from duty following the discovery that her fiancé, DCI Martyn Hunter (Beyond Paradise favourite Jamie Bamber), was secretly working for a local drug-smuggling gang.

As Rachita waits to be cleared of any involvement in her ex’s corrupt dealings, she’s faced with a dilemma: should she speak up about the institutional racism within the police that almost prevented her from solving her last case? Or should she keep quiet, focus on catching the killer and avoid getting a reputation as a troublemaker?

TV Times caught up with Parminder, 49, to go over her case notes…

How is Rachita feeling at the start of this new series?

The first season didn’t end so well for her. She was betrayed by her partner, ana guy who she had strong feelings for [PS Tony Khatri, played by Trigger Point’s Maanuv Thiara] was shot dead in front of her – if anything could go wrong in her life, it pretty much did.