DI Ray is trying to keep her head above water after devastating discovery, says Parminder Nagra
"She's really been through it."
Parminder Nagra has said that DI Ray is "trying to keep her head above water" in the crime drama's second season, which arrives on ITV1 and ITVX on Sunday 20th October.
"She's really been through it," she told RadioTimes.com. "I think she's a little bit broken and just not very trusting of anyone, really. And she gets called back to do this case and she's going to have to go back and work with those same people again that gave her a rough ride.
"She's still, whether she knows it or not, very strong, but her shell got broken a little bit. And who does she even relay that to? A lot of the time it's to herself, and even when she does reach out for help, how much help can she really reach out for?"
In the show's first season, Ray discovered that her fiancé, DCI Martyn Hunter (Jamie Bamber), was a corrupt officer.
He was being blackmailed by an organised crime group, who had CCTV footage of him committing the statutory rape of a 15-year-old victim of sex trafficking in exchange for money and a passport.
As a result, Ray was informed by her boss that he was waiting for the go ahead to suspend her from the investigation, and that her links to Martyn meant that she herself would need to be investigated.
The first season also saw a colleague of Ray's gunned down on her doorstep, and she was also a target for everyday racism and microaggressions within the force, which resulted in an allegation of bullying made against her by another colleague.
"You know when you do a jigsaw puzzle and it's easier to do the edges first? I feel like she's got the edges, all of the edges are there, but the middle's a mess," said DI Ray creator and writer Maya Sondhi.
"And then gradually, as you go along with the different things that happen with different people, and her mum's quite key in that as well, [as is] her relationship with [newcomer] Patrick Baladi [who plays DI Patrick Holden], Gemma Whelan's character [DCI Kerry Henderson], I think gradually the jigsaw – I'm not saying she's completely put together by the end, it's probably the 1,000-piece jigsaw – but she's getting there."
Read more:
- DI Ray season 1 ending explained: What happened to the lead detective?
- DI Ray season 2: Release date, cast, plot and trailer
In the show's sophomore season, Ray is investigating the murder of a "high-profile criminal".
"Sensitive ethnic issues relating to the case ignite racial tensions, causing a personal conflict for Rachita, both as a British Asian woman and as a police officer, which she must fight to prevent a turf war erupting on the streets of Birmingham," adds the official synopsis.
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DI Ray season 2 will begin on ITV1 on Sunday 20th October at 9pm, with subsequent episodes following across the week. All six episodes will also drop on ITVX on 20th October.
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