Virdee

I quite enjoyed this new series as it was great seeing an almost all non white cast....don't honestly quite know what some of the low reviews are being so harsh about. The Bradford accents were fine....the series was very well acted by everyone and the twists and turns in the plot had me binge watching on iPlayer. My only negative is some of the plot holes that were quite big, otherwise I would have scored higher - an example was when Virdees wife Saima is watching Riaz at his warehouse across the road from her car. Everyone standsing outside the warehouse would have seen her car, it was directly opposite and not far - just wasn't believable to me. Anyway, watch this as it's very good in terms of screen play as the storyline was well written. The actors who played Virdee, Saima and Riaz were absolutely outstanding. Loved seeing them in this...it's hard to please everyone but well done!!

Detective Harry Virdee desperately tries to track down a vicious killer, one with sadistic methods.

First of all, some of these reviews, I have to question if they're based on the whole series, or ten minutes of episode one.

If you're missing Luther, this may just give you your much missed fix, there are certain similarities, it's high octane, action packed, gritty, violent, and we have a charismatic, maverick Cop.

Stick with it is my advice, it's perhaps a little slow to get going, but when it does, it transforms into a gritty, addictive series. Episode 4 sees a big switch up, that's where it really does hit top gear.

Expect plenty of violence, and a couple of grim sequences, I haven't actually seen scenes like this on The BBC since the last run or Luther.

Bradford, The City of Culture plays a huge part, and it looks exactly what it is, a working class, Northern City.

Staz Nair is excellent as Virdee, and if you're a fan of handsome guys, there's no shortage here! At times Aysha Kala really is the star of the show, and Saima is a truly fascinating character, although there's no shortage of those, Harry's father and brother in law, Riaz both play a big part.

I just wish Elizabeth Berrington had played a more active role, such a talented actress, she seems to get better and better.

9/10.

Well acted, great direction, superb production and cinematography, but a few holes in the script.

I really enjoyed the series and particularly liked that it was set in Bradford with Muslim detective maried to a Hindu woman (apologies if I got the wrong), who's investigating the drugs trade.

It shows a side of England that I know nothing about and I really liked that.

The characters are well written and they are played by actors I haven't seen before, and they play it well.

This series set it up very nicely to move to the next series and I look forward to it.

I hope the writer takes note that the holes need to be dealt with.

Recommend viewing, yes.

This had a lot going for it. Especially the location in Bradford and the unusual characters involved.

The acting was pretty good.

But just a few things let it down - I'm not sure if it was the directing or the director of photography but why oh, why focus on a coffee cup in the last scene?

Why oh why leave the door open when you're about to do something nefarious?

And surely everybody has seen silence at the lambs now. And certainly the writers had. So wouldn't it be sensible to come up with something a little bit different?

Or at least introduce some humour around it?

I started liking some of the characters but by the end I was pretty bored with them. Again, too many lingering shots of handsome faces.

And repetitive dialogue.

Nice try - try again please!

Virdee 2025 BBC 6 x hour long episode.

Detective thriller set in Bradford, ready for its City of Culture status.

Throwing in a multicultural mix, drug dealers, armed cops and robbers, dastardly Eastern European, mix race marriages, same sex relationships, family squabbles, LGBQT club culture, and wait for it the best one yet is a wronged serial killer with a grudge who has a thing about bugs which he likes to plant in his victims (have we seen that before?). What have you got Virdee, a sprawling mess of a series. Acting is poor, lots of side glances and looking away when wronged , quivering lips and tear filled eyes.

The amount of money that has been spent on this is criminal, it is a big production, movie length scale, it is clearly aiming for mass appeal and no doubt commercial sales. Its set for a follow up, with loose ends tied up giving us pointers for the direction of season 2.

2/10 for the story, 8/10 for the production , but overall for this embarrassing failure 4/10 PS I have avoided any racial stereotyping unlike this series.