1:00 AM 4th February 2025

In conversation with AA Dhand Creator, Writer And Executive Producer BBC Virdee

Credit: BBC / Magical Society©
Photographer: Rob Youngson
Credit: BBC / Magical Society© Photographer: Rob Youngson
How would you describe the Virdee series?

Virdee is an elevated thriller set in the city of Bradford which introduces DCI Harry Virdee, a formidable police detective who likes to break the rules, but ultimately, he’ll do whatever it takes to ensure the safety of his city and his family.

You’ve written a series of books, is the series an amalgamation of all of them or just one?

It’s based on my third book, City of Sinners, but I do borrow little snippets from some of the other books.

What made you finally want to adapt your books for television?

I’d written the books as a long screenplay because I’m a very visual storyteller, so I always have pictures in my head. It just felt like a very natural progression to try and adapt it myself. There wasn’t any hesitation from me to try and adapt it and I really enjoyed it because it gave me another opportunity to dissect the books but elevate it for screen, so I could go even further.

I’ve always wanted to be a screenwriter. I grew up in a convenience store which had a video library, so I spent my youth watching videos, thrillers and the like. I’ve been raised and obsessed with movies since I can remember. I’ve always wanted to do something for screen and the novel was my way into it.

Harry Virdee (STAZ NAIR)
Credit: BBC / Magical Society©
Photographer: David Gennard
Harry Virdee (STAZ NAIR) Credit: BBC / Magical Society© Photographer: David Gennard
This was your first time adapting your books for screen and you wrote the scripts yourself. What has that experience been like?

It was amazing. I had a brilliant team looking after me throughout – Paul Trijbits (executive producer for Magical Society) is an experienced producer and Callum Dodgson is an experienced story producer and helped me dismantle the books and put them back together, as it’s not a straight adaptation. There are quite a few changes from the book because screen is a different medium.

I had to learn a lot. I read a lot of scripts and screenplays – every movie that I loved I’d try and get my hands on the screenplay. If I could get hold of a screenplay before the movie came out, I’d read the screenplay first so I could see it in my head first and then see it play out when I’d watch the film.

If I can watch something with the volume off and still understand what is going on, I think that’s great screenwriting. I went on a journey of watching some of my favourite movies with the sound off – Silence of the Lambs, Training Day, Terminator 2 – movies like that and I could understand what was going on. If I was watching something new, I’d also watch the first 15 minutes with the sound off so I can see if I can understand what it’s about. I taught myself some things in that way, but really enjoyed the process and experience.

Have there been any main changes from the books to make it suitable for screen?

In the books, it’s Harry’s brother who is the drugs kingpin but in the series it’s Harry’s brother-in-law as it allowed me to examine the family story with more emotional depth. It made it more complicated for Harry, which I always like because we’re writing a drama. The more complexities and emotional depth there is I think it makes it more interesting for the audience.

When I was writing the books I was always 50-50 on whether it should be Harry’s brother or Riaz (his brother-in-law) so it just felt like a natural thing when I was adapting for screen, the thing I didn’t do in the book I could actually do for screen. I wanted to explore friendship, rather than family loyalty although ultimately the series is about a divided family. What it means when you’ve got two friends who have been brought up together in a city and Harry of course married Saima, Riaz’s sister so there’s that family element to it. The actual genesis of the Virdee story is between Harry and Riaz – the relationship with Saima comes later. I was constantly thinking how could I make it complicated, how could I lean into loyalty which isn’t family loyalty, because we talk about family loyalty with the marriage.

I’ve always been really interested in the dividing line between friend and family because I think we tend to live in a world now where your friends are almost more important than your family – you see them more and you talk to them more. Some friends feel like family. For me, it allowed me to explore that in real depth and real emotion.

Nina Singh (TARA VIRDEE-DUGAL); Harry Virdee (STAZ NAIR)

Photo: BBC / Magical Society©
Photographer: Vishal Sharma
Nina Singh (TARA VIRDEE-DUGAL); Harry Virdee (STAZ NAIR) Photo: BBC / Magical Society© Photographer: Vishal Sharma
The series was shot and filmed in Bradford. Having grown up in Bradford, what’s that been like? How involved were you in choosing the locations and can you give examples of the key locations we’ll see on screen?

I selected most of the locations used in the series because I wanted to show my city off! I wanted to show the contrast between old Bradford and new Bradford. We go to City Park, where we have the biggest water fountains there are in England with the beautiful megastructure, which is new, fresh, colourful and vibrant. This is juxtaposed in the series with the nightmarish ruins and mills that haven’t been used for decades.

There’s so much history in these mills too, around 200 years ago Bradford was one of the most powerful and richest cities in Europe – we made the curtains that were in the White House! You see the decline of that industry in those mills but then you get to see new
Bradford with City Park and the vibrancy of that. I was trying to choose locations that fed into the story which had an emotional backdrop to them that could mirror what was happening on screen.

For example, if something dark was happening we’d be in a mill and if something beautiful and light was happening, we’d be in City Park or Lister Park. Bradford is a really beautiful city.

You also worked with people from Bradford and West Yorkshire during filming, as part of the Screen Academy Bradford. How important was it to you that local people were working on the production?

It was vital. From the infancy of the show, we said that we wanted to have local people involved, to curate, develop and nurture local talent and create opportunities for them to enter this industry and see what it’s about. Bradford is one the youngest populations in England – we’ve got an enormous population that is going to be part of the future of this country.

This experience is new to me so I thought it would be great to bring other local people on the same journey. It was also an opportunity to lift the profile of the show so that, yes, we’re making a high-end show, but how can we embrace the people that this is about that are from the city of Bradford.

As well as being entertained by the series, we’ve also left a legacy in Bradford with the Screen Academy Bradford. It’s also giving people from underrepresented communities the opportunity to explore a world that they very seldom have the opportunity to do, myself being one of them.

Harry Virdee (STAZ NAIR); DS Clare Conway (ELIZABETH BERRINGTON);

Credit: BBC / Magical Society©
Photographer: Sam Taylor
Harry Virdee (STAZ NAIR); DS Clare Conway (ELIZABETH BERRINGTON); Credit: BBC / Magical Society© Photographer: Sam Taylor
How well do you think Staz and Aysha have brought the characters to life? What was it like working with them?

I met Staz just before his audition in the corridor believe it or not. I just bumped into him. He seemed quite nervous before going in, we both recognised each other, and I just said, “enjoy yourself.” After his audition, I wanted to meet him and it sounds really cheesy but the door opened and he walked in and there was just a change in the chemistry and atmosphere because he brought with him this aura which was Harry Virdee.

There’s no other way to explain it. It was just him and me and we had a conversation, explored each other’s lives and who we were, it was just a done deal. He just walked in as Harry Virdee and he’s done an incredible job. It’s the same with Aysha Kala for Saima, there was so much passion and belief for the show, and they had a lovely chemistry.

There’s a really exciting cast for the series, what was it like meeting and working with them but also seeing your work come to life?

It’s been incredible. Kulvinder Ghir has been a hero of mine for as long as I can remember. I was a fan of him in Goodness Gracious Me and followed him around the country when it was in the theatres, so meeting him was probably one of my highlights. I
was a bit starstruck, to be honest. I said it to him too and got a selfie with him. He really opened the doors and was a ground breaker.

Vikash is so talented and the range of depth he has is extraordinary. When he’s nice he’s so lovely and when he’s dark and switches, it’s really quite frightening. Nina Singh, who plays Tara, she has this third-generation vibe about her where she’s fearless – she’s not weighted down with any baggage of representation, she’s just free to be who she wants to be.

I really enjoyed speaking to her and hanging out with her because I just envy the freedom she has and how she lives in the here and now. There was a real difference between that third-generation vibe that I got from her and I thought ‘what a great future we’ve got for South Asians if this is the way we’re going, just freedom’. I really learnt something from her.

The music is also a big part of the series and you have Hans Zimmer on board. How did Hans come on board for the series? What was it like working with him?

Hans has been an idol of mine for such a long time. I wrote all the Harry Virdee books to Hans Zimmer soundtracks and I would say I’m his number one fan, I don’t care what anyone else says! I was watching a BBC interview where they were talking about his life story and he says, “When I write my music, I write for a lady named Dorothy from Bradford who’s got a great coat”.

Paul Trijbits had told me he had worked with him and so I thought ‘hang on, the universe is telling me something’. I got my laptop out and wrote to him and I mentioned I’d just seen that interview and I was a big fan. I added, ‘I’m not called Dorothy, but I am from Bradford, and I’ve got a great coat, and I’d love to see what Hans Zimmer sounds like with a Bollywood twist.’ I left it like that and quite open-ended. A week later, completely to our surprise he emailed Paul and delivered the main theme.




Virdee is a great example of homegrown storytelling and backing British talent, why do you think that is important?

I’ve been a big BBC fan my whole life and I think the BBC is a brilliant platform for this programme. Virdee has been seven years in development and the BBC have kept going with me on this journey. I think from the moment I had written the books they were on board. It’s important to them and they’ve really championed it every step of the way.

It’s been a journey to find the right balance of storytelling and it’s important for the BBC because they are representative of South Asian talent in this country and the time has come where we show that on screen. Again, there’s been so much work that goes on behind closed doors going back to around 2015 or 2016. There’s a lot of development going on to get diverse storytelling on screen. For me, it was important because again I’ve grown up with the BBC and I’m a huge BBC fan. It was always going to be the home this went to. They’ve backed it every step of the way.

You used to be a pharmacist and decided to stop to focus on Virdee and carry on writing, what has that been like?

I’ve spent 25 years behind the counter of either a corner shop or a pharmacy. I’ve spent my whole life in customer service and retail, either looking after people or serving people. It’s been quite a change in that sense to become a full-time writer as you lose that human interaction. I’d see around 300 people a day in the pharmacy and around 200 in the corner shop, so it’s constant intel on a daily basis.

When you become a writer, it’s quiet and it’s just you and your voice. I missed the human interaction that I had, just the hi/hellos/how are yous.

On the other hand, it’s given me time to write lots more things as I’ve got more free time. I tend to write at night time so I’ve continued to do that now. The night is when the world comes alive for me as it’s quiet and its dark.

Where do the ideas of the characters come from?
That’s a good question and I wish I could tell you! I’m influenced a lot by the films I grew up with – the Rambos and the Schwarzeneggers of the world and the cheesy 90s movie trailers that start with ‘in a world where mankind has no chance…’ or something along those lines. I’m influenced by everything and anything too, sometimes conversations I have and just walking around the city.

Sometimes an idea just popped into my head. The idea for City of Sinners (which mostly transferred to Virdee on screen) came about when I was in Waterstones doing a book launch for one of the books and I looked up to the ceiling – as Bradford’s Waterstones is in the old wool exchange building so it’s magnificent – and I looked up and there was a dead Asian girl in a sari hanging from the ceiling.

That image never left my mind. I used to write in that shop so I’d look up and the ceiling and she’d still be there and as a writer your job is to find out why and once something like that in your head you can’t get rid of it. It all started from there! So sometimes it can be quite a visual image. For every novel, it’s been one seemingly impossible image that I’ve had to answer why.

All episodes of Virdee will be available to steam on BBC iPlayer from 6am on Monday 10th February. The first episode will air at 9pm on BBC One that evening with episodes continuing to air weekly.

About the series:
Set and filmed in Bradford, Virdee tells the story of Detective Harry Virdee, a dedicated cop whose personal life is in chaos. He is in a loving relationship with his wife, Saima, but he is estranged from his family who disapprove of his interfaith marriage.

A turf war is brewing in the underbelly of the city with the police losing its grip on gang rivalries as they spill out onto the streets of Bradford. When a young dealer is murdered, Harry’s duty to uphold the law clashes with his links to members of the crime gangs. He must hunt down whoever is targeting those around him.

Whilst the killer holds the entire city to ransom, Harry realises that he is going to need the help of his brother-in-law Riaz, a drugs kingpin who runs the largest cartel in the county. Pulled together in an alliance that could ruin them both, Harry must make a choice: save himself and his family or save his city. He will not be able to do both.