BBC thanks cast and crew of acclaimed crime drama after series axed following one season
The six-part first season aired across February and March 2025.
The BBC has thanked the cast and crew of detective drama Virdee after axing the show after just one season.
The series, which is an adaptation of AA Dhand’s books, follows Bradford-based detective Harry Virdee (Staz Nair) as he tracks down a killer targeting the area’s Asian community, whilst also dealing with pushback from his family over his decision to marry his Muslim wife Saima (Aysha Kala).
The Sun has reported that the broadcaster, which aired the first six-part season across February and March 2025, has axed the series due to low viewing figures.
In a statement shared with the publication, the BBC appeared to confirm that the show had been axed, and thanked the cast and crew for a "brilliant" drama.
The statement read: "We'd like to thank Amit Dhand and the Virdee team for a brilliant series, we are really proud of the show and we are talking to Amit about future projects."
The news of the show's cancellation will no doubt come as a blow to many fans who enjoyed the first season, which received largely positive reviews upon its release and was widely praised as a fresh take on the detective drama genre.
Speaking about how his role fills a gap in cultural representation on page and screen, Nair previously told Radio Times Magazine: "I felt there wasn’t a South Asian character in an on-screen drama in the western world."
He continued: "I grew up at a time when Goodness Gracious Me was viral. There were some really amazing global comics who were killing it. But no one had really done drama.
"So, I started writing Harry Virdee because I wanted to see him represented in the way I see myself. And I wanted his character to mirror the city of Bradford – light, dark, complicated.”
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Speaking about the happily married protagonist and how his marital status was deliberate in the script, Nair added: "I was aware that detectives tended to be divorcees or womanisers. Virdee is a love story wrapped around a crime thriller.
"I wanted a detective whose family life was the strongest thing in his world."
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Virdee is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
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Authors
Molly Moss is a Trends Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest trends across TV, film and more. She has an MA in Newspaper Journalism and has previously written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Sun Online.
