Everything to Remember Ahead of 'D.I. Ray' Season 2

Less than a year after its first season aired on linear on most PBS stations, the U.K. police procedural D.I. Ray is back for a second season. D.I. Ray is one of many shows with a cast and creative team that trace back to the BBC’s hugely successful Line of Duty. Series creator Jed Mercurio is also the mastermind behind shows like Netflix’s Bodyguard and Trigger Point (which recently moved from Peacock to BritBox), and he produces D.I. Ray, which is written by former Line of Duty star Maya Sondhi and stars Parminder Nagra, who you know from iconic film and TV roles in Bend It Like Beckham, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and many more. 

Perhaps thanks to this tried-and-true team, D.I. Ray was quickly renewed for a second season by ITV before Season 1 had even aired in the U.S. (It was available as an early binge on PBS Passport for members for several months before it aired.) However, the series hasn’t quite grabbed hold of US viewers yet, so if you want to be ahead of the curve and hop onboard for Season 2, or if the twists and turns of Season 1 have got your memory in knots, here’s everything you need to remember from the first six episodes.

Nagra plays titular detective Detective Inspector Rachita Ray, surrounded by a supporting cast in Season 1 that included Gemma Whelan (The Tower) as Ray’s critical supervisor DCI Kerry Henderson, Ian Puleston-Davies (The Bay) as Superintendent Ross Beardsmore, Maanuv Thiara (another Line of Duty alumni) as Ray’s kindly colleague PS Tony Khatri, and Jamie Bamber (Beyond Paradise) as Ray’s fiancé DCI Martyn Hunter. 

The first episode begins when, after tactfully handling an armed assailant, D.I. Ray is promoted to the homicide department. She’s thrilled to finally be recognized for her work until she realizes that she was essentially a diversity hire to save face for her white bosses. She is tasked with a homicide involving the city’s South Asian community that those white colleagues attributed to conflict between ethnic groups.

What seemed at first to be a simple homicide case (which Ray understands right away was not racially motivated) turns into a global drug smuggling and human trafficking investigation. As Ray grows more involved with the case, she continually clashes with DCI Henderson and Superintendent Beardsmore. Other colleagues accuse her of bullying, though all she’s done is stand up for herself in the workplace as a woman of color. 

The one person she can lean on in the police force is PS Tony Khatri. Tony is the perfect guy — sensitive, sweet, and understanding about the nuances of being a South Asian woman in the police force. The two would be a perfect match... if Ray wasn’t already engaged. 

That brings us to her fiancé, Martyn. Martyn is rather milquetoast, and despite their recent engagement, neither he nor Ray seem all that into each other. She confides in him about her case because he, too, is an officer. But he, like Ray’s superiors, thinks she should lay off the case and rest. But Ray pushes forward with her case and her flirtationship with Tony.

Her experiences during the investigation and her conversations with Tony drive Ray to think more about her heritage and her relationship to race. She even attends a therapy session where she recalls racism she experienced during childhood and starts to consider how deeply it affects her life and choices in the present. 

As she gets closer to the case, Ray is personally targeted by the people she’s investigating. She’s knocked out by an unseen assailant, nearly drowned in her own bathtub, surveilled, and in a tragic twist in Episode 3, sees Tony shot on her doorstep after they spend a secret night together. 

Finally, it appears that Ray’s fiancé Martyn is involved in the criminal activity, because his timing has been a little too perfect and his insistence that she drop the case has been a little too strong. When she finds a sex tape implicating him in the trafficking ring, it’s undeniable. She lures him into a trap, and officers arrest him and another major figure in the trafficking operation.

The victory is short-lived because when Ray returns to work the next day, she faces opposition from Sergeant Beardsmore. He tells her she will be investigated and suspended because of her relationship with a corrupt cop and admits that she was hastily promoted for “ethnic needs.” Ray takes off her ID and walks out of the office in a mix of stoic defeat and determination. 

We know from the simple fact that there’s another season coming that Ray’s career as a detective isn’t finished for good. However, how she manages to get back into it and how she manages the increasingly difficult balancing act of being a woman of color in the police force have yet to be seen. Perhaps most exciting, Season 2 has upped its episode count from four to six, giving us more time to get to know Ray and follow her investigation and her personal journey. 

D.I. Ray Season 2 will premiere on Sunday, June 16, 2024, at 10 p.m. E.T. and air and stream weekly on Sundays on most PBS stations, the PBS app, and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel. All six episodes will be available on premiere day on PBS Passport for members to stream. As always, check your local listings. Season 1 is streaming now on PBS Passport.