Warning: this article contains minor spoilers for the first episode of ITV’s DI Ray.

When it comes to the canon of crime dramas, we just know that when Jed Mercurio’s name is attached to something, it’s bound to be stellar.

From Line Of Duty to Bodyguard and, more recently, ITV’s Trigger Point, we know that Mercurio does fast-paced, tense crime-based dramas better than most. So when we heard about DI Ray, you just knew that our expectations were high. And having torn through the first episode of the new ITV drama, it seems as though our expectations were met in the most wonderfully surprising of ways.

You see, the story is not only one of seedy organised crime, but the central character – DI Ray – is an enigmatic, somewhat hard-to-read protagonist that’s figuring her own British Asian identity out at the same time as navigating workplace microaggressions.

It’s the first leading role that Parminder Nagra has had, which is hard to believe given the success – and recent 20th-anniversary celebrations – of hit movie Bend It Like Beckham. Unlike her co-star Keira Knightley, Nagra has not been afforded the same opportunities and chance to flex her acting skills without racial stereotypes and “typecasting” being close by. 

In this new series, though, Nagra gets the chance to confront those ideas firsthand through her new – and very complex – character, Rachita Ray. Ray is a Leicester-born police detective working in Birmingham, who is introduced to the new world of “culturally specific homicides (CSH)” through her new promotion. A CSH case and a newly appointed woman of colour? You guessed it – it makes for a series that isn’t afraid of highlighting the police’s racist and ignorant attitudes.

As soon as the first episode starts, we start to get a sense of the backhanded remarks that plague Ray’s life as a British Indian woman, but also as a police officer. Ray is eyeing up bottles of red wine in a supermarket and no sooner has she picked out her wine than an elderly white man approaches, asking her if she knows where the eggs are. What is first thought to be a harmless exchange is quickly met with him saying to her: “Wish you lot wouldn’t keep moving the stuff around – it’s no good for my memory.”

It’s clear that, because Ray is a brown woman, he assumes that she works in the supermarket. Similar occurrences are dotted throughout this first episode, making for the kind of TV moments where you wince, shake your head and scoff at the realistic ludicrousness of it all.  

Right after the supermarket incident, Ray must chase down a knife-wielding man and it’s this act of bravery that sees her quickly promoted and leading her first homicide investigation. While it would be nice to think that Ray has earned the promotion from her clear hard work and tenacity, it becomes painfully obvious that she’s placed on the case because of the cultural background of the victim and suspects. As her senior officer states, Ray is “exactly what the team needs”.

She’s quickly introduced to the world of CSHs, but it seems like the term, while thought to be inclusive and modern, is actually just a catch-all term to speak about any case involving non-white people.

Throughout the episode, her new small team make references to the suspects and the case in multiple awkward instances. At first, it’s thought to be an “honour crime” and then, on thinking about questioning a female suspect, it’s thought that she may not speak up on account of being “oppressed”. It may be comedic to many of us, but it actually underlines the fact that institutions – like the Metropolitan police – can often be exclusionary when inclusive learning and terms aren’t used appropriately. 

Another theme running throughout this first enlightening episode is the struggle of cultural identity. Ray is of Indian descent but with no current knowledge of Punjabi, having a white fiancée and majority-white friends, it’s clear to see that she feels disconnected from her heritage. It makes for more awkward moments – like having to get a junior officer to translate a Punjabi conversation for her – but also brings out a more defensive side when trying to get her fellow officers to understand the sensitivity of the case at hand.

It’s an interesting dynamic having the central police officer not only uncover a complicated criminal case, but also grapple with her place within it – and the community that is at the heart of it.

While this thriller ends like any good tense drama does (with a shocking cliffhanger), the larger themes of tokenism, casual racism and workplace stereotypes are what left an impact on us when watching. That’s why we know we’ll continue tuning in to DI Ray because, truthfully, it’s unlike any other crime series on TV.

The second episode of DI Ray airs tonight on ITV at 9pm, with episodes airing on consecutive nights at the same time. 

Images: ITV