Naman Shrestha
Created by Maya Sondhi, ‘D.I. Ray’ is a British police procedural drama series that stars Parminder Nagra as Rachita Ray, a competent British Asian policewoman who gets promoted to investigate the homicide case of a young Muslim man. This makes her suspect that she has been particularly chosen for the case due to her ethnicity instead of her abilities and skills as a detective. Still determined to solve the case and find the killer, she realizes the suspects aren’t guilty.
When Ray tries to convince her superiors of this, she is ignored because of the hidden biases and impatience to get done with the case as quickly as possible. Apart from Parminder Nagra, the crime series features compelling performances from Bhavik C. Pankhania, Che Cartwright, Jamie Bamber, and Ian Puleston-Davies, and unfolds in Birmingham with the fictional police force being at the heart of the narrative. Given the use of some interesting locations, including the police station and the crime scenes, it is natural for you to wonder where ‘D.I. Ray’ is filmed. In that case, we have got you covered!
D.I. Ray Filming Locations
‘D.I. Ray’ is filmed in England, especially in and around Birmingham. According to reports, the principal photography for the inaugural iteration of the crime drama series commenced in early October 2021 and wrapped up in December of the same year. As for the shooting of the sophomore round, it kicked off in May 2023. Now, without further ado, let’s traverse all the specific locations where D.I. Rachita Ray solves the mystery of different crimes in the police procedural series!
Birmingham, England
Almost all the pivotal sequences for ‘D.I. Ray’ are lensed across Birmingham, a city and a metropolitan borough in England’s West Midlands. In the pilot’s opening scene, you can see the locales of Centenary Square on the north side of Broad Street. The scenes involving D.I. Ray’s residence and surrounding areas are recorded in the southwest part of Birmingham, specifically in the Harborne area.
The area outside the Lloyd House police station doubles as the exterior of the Birmingham-based police force’s station in the mystery series. Besides, several different Birmingham establishments are utilized to shoot pivotal portions of the Parminder Nagra starrer. They are The White Swan at 276 Bradford Street in Deritend, Marco Pierre White’s Steakhouse Bar & Grill at the Cube at 200 Wharfside Street, Three Snowhill at Snowhill 3 on Queensway, and the Ladbroke Hotel at Bordesley Street in Digbeth. Moreover, the Library of Birmingham on Centenary Square in Birmingham poses as the Central Library in the PBS series.
To shoot a scene involving the discovery of a body under the bridge in season 1, the production team set up camp at the underside of Spaghetti Junction. In addition, numerous important exterior sequences of ‘D.I. Ray’ are taped on location in the Jewellery Quarter, St. Paul’s Square, Livery Street, Snow Hill Station Car Park, Ludgate Hill car park, and Grand Central, above New Street railway station. A few of the scenes for the series are also recorded in and around Sutton Park, in Sutton Coldfield, in the city of Birmingham.
Apart from ‘D.I. Ray,’ Birmingham has hosted the production of many movies and T.V. shows over the years. As a matter of fact, its locales have been featured in ‘Miss Marple: At Bertram’s Hotel,’ ‘Clubbed,’ ‘The Marker,’ ‘Line of Duty,’ ‘Dalziel and Pascoe,’ ‘Hustle,’ and ‘You Don’t Know Me.’
Read More: Is D.I. Ray Based on a True Story?
