DI Ray (titled D.I. Ray in the United States and Canada) is a 2022 British police proceduraltelevision series. It was created and written by Maya Sondhi and produced by Jed Mercurio. DI Ray stars Parminder Nagra as detective inspector Rachita Ray in a fictitious Birmingham-based police force. The cast also includes Gemma Whelan and Jamie Bamber. The first series of four episodes aired on ITV beginning 2 May 2022. The second series aired from 16 June 2024 in the United States and 20 October 2024 in the UK and in other territories.
Series 2 was also filmed in Birmingham, with locations including the Jewellery Quarter and Hockley Flyover.
Episodes
Series 1 (2022)
No.
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original release date
UK viewers (millions)
1
Episode 1
Audrey Cooke
Maya Sondhi
2 May 2022 (2022-05-02)
5.83
DI Rachita Ray is promoted to homicide after successfully talking down a man who stabbed a police officer after suffering from psychosis. She is in a secret relationship with fellow police officer Martyn Hunter, who proposes to her. On her first day on the job, she experiences microaggressions from other police officers and is given the wrong badge. On her first case, her boss assigns PS Khatri to work with Ray as she investigates the homicide of Imran Aziz, a local man who manages his family's cash and carry and is trying to set up a car company. Aziz, a Muslim man, was dating a Hindu woman, Anjuli Kapoor, at the time of his death. This leads DCI Henderson to believe it is an honour killing. Henderson pressures Ray to charge Anjuli's brothers with the crime. She avoids charging them, instead proving the brothers' alibi. Anjuli, in hiding, sends Ray Aziz's mobile and arranges a meeting with Ray. She tells Ray to come alone, but Ray send Khatri the address. Anjuli tells Ray that somebody had been threatening Aziz, and that his business might have been involved in criminal activity. Somebody scares Anjuli away, and Ray is knocked unconscious by a mysterious figure.
2
Episode 2
Audrey Cooke
Maya Sondhi
3 May 2022 (2022-05-03)
5.06
Khatri finds Ray in the park, conscious but concussed. The next day, she and her team find Anjuli's body. Henderson assumes that Anjuli committed suicide, but Ray disagrees. After a relative of Anjuli's comes forward, saying that they heard Anjuli arguing with her eldest brother, he is arrested. Henderson now believes he murdered his sister as part of an honour killing, and Ray still disagrees. CCTV footage shows a man near Anjuli's car after her abduction, and after discussing Anjuli's conversation with her team, Ray realize that Aziz was likely involved in drug dealing and organized crime.
That night, while Ray is in the bath, a masked intruder enters her home and attempts to drown her with a towel, likely similarly to how Anjuli was killed. He is interrupted, presumably, by Hunter, who encourages Ray to move in with him. She also agrees to finally meet his parents, but, after arriving, is called away to interview Anjulis's younger brother. She covers that Aziz met with somebody three days before his murder. She and her team track down a shipping container connected to Aziz. Upon entering the container, they find over a dozen dead bodies and one very weak teenager.
3
Episode 3
Alex Pillai
Maya Sondhi
4 May 2022 (2022-05-04)
4.86
Ray and her team discover that the Vietnamese human trafficking victims they found were promised work in the UK, but in reality were to be kept as slaves. Ray talks to the girlfriend of Anjuli's killer, who doesn't tell her much. Ray is then called to Intelligence, who told that the man's real name is Marcus Tranter and that Aziz was informing them about Tranter's drug smuggling operation. They advise Ray not to interfere during her investigation. Ray finds the driver of the container, but he is killed in a hit and run before he can give her much information.
Meanwhile, the woman who gave Ray the wrong badge files a formal complaint, accusing her of bullying. Ray, stressed by this and the driver's death, starts an affair with Khatri. A few days later, Khatri visits her house to drop off food. Unbeknownst to either of them, they are being watched by Hunter, holding a photograph of Khatri and Ray kissing. He calls Tranter and says "You were right. Do it." A motorcycle drives by, firing at Ray's house as she and Khatri stand in the doorway. Khatri is hit, but he knocks Ray out of harm's way as he falls.
4
Episode 4
Alex Pillai
Maya Sondhi
5 May 2022 (2022-05-05)
4.86
The police arrive to take Khatri's body away. The investigating officer blames Ray for Khatri's death, saying that she should have been aware somebody was watching her. After the meeting, Hunter confronts Ray about why Khatri was at her house in the first place. The next day, Ray meets with Intelligence again, asking for more information. Intelligence agree to set up a meeting between her and Imran Aziz's handler. Ray discovers an address of Tranter's, and finds a videotape of Hunter having sex with an underage girl. Ray sets a trap for Hunter, and lies to him by saying that Intelligence were stopping her from investigating. Soon after, Ray is sent a mysterious text, purportedly from Aziz's handler, offering to meet. At the meeting is Hunter, not the handler. He admits to working for Tranter, and says that Tranter used the tape to blackmail him. Tranter, assisted by Hunter, tries to kidnap Ray. They are stopped, however, when the police show up, having been summoned by Ray. Despite their arrest and successfully solving the murders, Ray is informed that she will be suspended and investigated for Hunter's actions, and he says that Ray was not ready to take on such a high-profile case. Henderson tells Ray that she disagrees with this, and that Ray was ready after all.
Series 2 (2024)
No.
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original release date
UK viewers (millions)
1
Wrong Place
Nirpal Bhogal
Maya Sondhi
16 June 2024 (2024-06-16)
2
Rivals
Nirpal Bhogal
Maya Sondhi
23 June 2024 (2024-06-23)
3
The Hunt for Rav
Nirpal Bhogal
Maya Sondhi
30 June 2024 (2024-06-30)
4
A Test of Wills
Nirpal Bhogal
Maya Sondhi
7 July 2024 (2024-07-07)
5
Staying on Top
Nicole Volavka
Sarah Deane & Maya Sondhi
14 July 2024 (2024-07-14)
6
Enemy Within
Nicole Volavka
Maya Sondhi
21 July 2024 (2024-07-21)
Broadcast
The first series of four episodes aired on ITV beginning 2 May 2022.[3]
In November 2022, the series was renewed for a six-episode second series, which began filming in 2023.[4][5] The second series aired from 16 June 2024 in the US,[6][7] 24 July on SBS Television in Australia,[8] and 20 October 2024 on ITV in the UK.[9][10]
Critical response
Lucy Mangan, writing for The Guardian, gave series 1 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".[11] 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."[12]
