DI Ray episode 1 recap: Line of Duty creator's new thriller ends on cliffhanger
The four-part ITV crime thriller follows Birmingham-based police detective DI Rachita Ray (Parminder Nagra).
The first time we meet DI Rachita Ray (Parminder Nagra), she's just been mistaken for a supermarket worker – the first of many instances of 'everyday racism' and microaggressions she endures.
However, both the viewer and the onlookers around her soon learn exactly who Rachita is, as she single-handedly (and unarmed) talks down a violent man of South Asian heritage, brandishing a knife in the middle of a public fountain, before establishing that he is not a terrorist.
Flash-forward in time, and she's received an award for her bravery – only to have to endure an older, white officer quip, to her face: "Never know with these types."
He asks where she's from, and she shoots back that she's from Leicester.
"What's your heritage?" he presses – setting up the overarching journey that Rachita will embark on in four-part series DI Ray, as a murder case forces her to grapple with her own personal conflict between her British identity and her South Asian heritage.
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What's more, the thriller is penned by screenwriter Maya Sondhi and executive produced by Jed Mercurio (Line of Duty, Bodyguard), meaning we can certainly expect plenty of twists, turns, and cliffhangers.
Read on for everything you need know about DI Ray episode 1 (warning: spoilers ahead!).
At the start of the first episode, Rachita learns that her bravery at the fountain will reap her further awards: she's been offered a coveted role in the Homicide department in Birmingham.
She's delighted – even a receptionist who mistakes her for another South Asian colleague cannot spoil her excitement – but she's soon given a rude awakening.
Rachita learns from her white colleague, DCI Kerry Henderson (Gemma Whelan), that she's been brought in to head up a CSH: meaning, a 'Culturally Specific Homicide'.
"They all know I'm there to tick a box," Rachita later tells her (secret) partner and former colleague, DCI Martyn Hunter (Jamie Bamber).
A man, Imran Aziz, has been killed, knifed through the chest and left in a parked car. He's been "wiped clean", with no fingerprints, and no CCTV footage of the murder.
His girlfriend Anjuli Kapoor, a beautician, has been evading the police, but the team already seem convinced that Imran was killed by Anjuli's two brothers – and pay no heed to Rachita's words of caution.
In a distressing scene, the Kapoor brothers are arrested at gunpoint at their family home.
Rachita is later assisted in her interviews by a family liaison officer, PS Tony Khatri, who unlike her is completely at ease with his South Asian heritage, wearing a Kara on his wrist.
DI Ray episode 1 ending
Still uncertain about the two Kapoor brothers' guilt, Rachita soon receives a burner phone, which she assumes is from the victim's missing girlfriend Anjuli.
Sensing that the case isn't as cut-and-dried as her colleagues believe, she's spurred on to further investigate the brothers' alibi.
While both claim to have been at the family garage at the time of the murder, CCTV has it otherwise – at least, until Rachita realises that the CCTV clock was still set to BST (British Summer Time), meaning that the time shown was an hour out, and the brothers were telling the truth.
Rachita orders the release of the two brothers on bail (earning the wrath of DCI Kerry Henderson).
Imran wasn't killed because of his relationship with Anjuli. Instead, the team turn to the dead man's former business dealings, and begin to uncover the tell-tale signs of organised crime.
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Finally, Rachita receives a call on the burner phone, from Anjuli. The two women meet in a playground at night – only for an unseen assailant to knock Rachita out, before chasing after Anjuli.
Did Anjuli Kapoor escape? Who was the assailant? And will Rachita's team find her time? More at the same time tomorrow...
DI Ray premiered on ITV on Monday 2nd May 2022 and is available to watch now on ITV Hub. For more to watch, check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
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