Grace, the acclaimed police procedural starring John Simm and Richie Campbell, is back on television tonight. As ITV prepares to launch the sixth season of the cop drama, what does the future hold for Detectives Grace and Branson?
The hugely-popular series, which adapts the work of novelist Peter James, returns tonight at 8pm on ITV1 with a feature-length two-hour instalment, the first of four parts in the eagerly-awaited season.
“The aftermath of ACC Cassian Pewe’s betrayal hangs heavily over East Sussex Police several months on as the team is in the midst of an anti-corruption enquiry,” reads the logline for the episode, which is titled ‘Left You Dead’ (via RadioTimes).
Sally Mais//ITV
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“Roy wrestles with whether to trust Cassian’s intel about Sandy’s murder and the threat to Bruno’s life. Meanwhile, his team is plunged into a case filled with secrets after a Brighton property developer reports his wife missing.”
In addition to Simm and Campbell, who portray DS Roy Grace and DS Glenn Branson respectively, the cast for the sixth season includes Laura Elphinstone, Brad Morrison, Juliette Motamed and guest star Rishi Nair.
While all previous episodes have been based on James’s novels, one instalment in the sixth season will be an original story developed by the writers and producers, with the subject matter being women’s safety at a university campus.
“It’s a very sombre and important issue, and something that is, sadly, very relevant,” explained producer Phil Hunter. “There’s a body within the university where these people are coming out and calling out this kind of behaviour.”
“It gives the young women and the students in this storyline agency and a voice in it all, to the point where they become instrumental in catching the killer at the end of the day,” he added.
ITV
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Since the police drama premiered in 2021, Grace has proven to be incredibly popular with viewers and critics, as evidenced by its impressive average user rating of 7.4/10 on IMDb (from 11,000 logs).
“With Endeavour ending, and only Vera in the arsenal for grown up Sunday night drama, ITV may just have found their new long standing hit,” wrote one user as they called it “impressive”, while another called it a “superior police procedural”.
Grace airs on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. Â His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.
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