Meet The Bradfordian Writer of BBC's Virdee
We're all hooked on the BBC's Virdee
Virdee, a new six-part thriller, is an adaptation by Amit Dhand (aka AA Dhand) of his own book City of Sinners, the third in a series of Detective Harry Virdee books set in Bradford. As a child, Amit lived over the convenience store in Bradford owned by his parents. He later qualified as a pharmacist at the University of Bradford and had been practising as a pharmacist since 2002 before he turned to writing full time 18 months ago. He began writing novels in 2006 and wrote for 10 years, admittedly unsuccessfully, before finally publishing in 2016. He says it’s been ‘quite a journey’.
It all started with The Silence of the Lambs. ‘We used to have a video rental library as part of the corner shop and, unbeknown to my dad, on Monday nights he would go to play snooker and when my mum would go to bed early I’d sneak downstairs and watch the certificate 15 and 18 videos. I was only about 12,’ Amit laughs. ‘One evening I picked The Silence of the Lambs and I had no idea what was about to happen to me… I watched in increasing horror as it went on and I couldn’t turn the TV off with a remote so I’d have to get off the couch, and I was too scared, so I had to continue watching. Just as Clarice Starling goes to Buffalo Bill’s house, there’s a moth on screen which tells her that’s the bad guy, and at the same time a fly flew past my vision in the living room – I nearly had a heart attack, screamed and ran into my mum’s bedroom to wake her up because there was no way I was sleeping alone that night!
‘That Saturday we went to Bradford Central Library, which is something we always did, and I wandered out of children’s fiction and into adult’s fiction, and because The Silence of the Lambs was out, the book was everywhere. I picked up the book and it was my first realisation that movies could be based on books (my parents didn’t know what I was reading, they were just delighted I was reading a big book!). Whilst I didn’t finish the movie, I did finish the book. I couldn’t stop turning the pages even though I was terrified, and my love affair with crime fiction was born. From then on, I just consumed every Thomas Harris and Stephen King book; I was reading way outside my age range.’
Amit’s inspiration for his character Harry Virdee formed as he hoped for more representation. ‘I was very aware in the early 2000s that South Asians were doing really well in comedy, whether it was Goodness Gracious Me or stand-up comedy – Russell Peters was killing it globally – but nobody was doing drama,’ he explains. ‘I wanted to see myself represented on screen in a Bruce Willis in Die Hard action kind of way – cool, badass and uncompromising. The desire came from the fact that I wanted to see a cool South Asian who wasn’t a caricature or a cliché.’
His series of books have been compared to Luther and The Wire, so it’s unsurprising that they’ve made for a brilliant screen adaptation. Harry Virdee (played by Staz Nair) is the DCI of the homicide major inquiry team in Bradford. He’s in an inter-faith marriage with Saima (Aysha Kala) which causes him personal and family problems. In the new TV series, when a young dealer is murdered, Harry’s going to need the help of his brother-in-law Riaz (Vikash Bhai), a drugs kingpin who runs the largest cartel in the county.
The series begins with a high-intensity chase scene with extreme camera angles, and the storyline is gripping as you learn more. Amit describes the series in three words: ‘pace, passion and power’. ‘The pace comes from the fact that it’s a multi-faceted story with lots going on and Harry’s having to balance all these things that affect his life,’ he explains. ‘The passion comes from his loving and strong relationship with his wife but also wanting to reconnect with his own family and he’s passionate about that. The power comes from the power struggle to control Bradford. Harry will ultimately have a choice to either save himself or save his city, but he won’t be able to do both.’
Amit says the process of working on the series has been amazing. ‘I’ve always wanted to be a screenwriter,’ he adds. ‘I guess I just did it the long way round by writing the novels first, which are really just a very long screenplay. I write very visual books and I wouldn’t say I’m the most literary writer, but what I can give you is a commercial thriller. It felt like a really natural transition to be able to move to screen, as it’s the thing that I always had my eye on. I really enjoyed the process.’
Amongst Virdee’s fast-paced action, Bradfordians will recognise many of the locations used for filming. Amit admits filming in Bradford was vital to him. ‘It wasn’t really negotiable,’ he continues. ‘It’s my city and I’ve been here my whole life. I love it. People have always asked if I’d move to London and I’m like “why the hell would I do that?” It doesn’t make any sense to me. Bradford’s my home and home is where the heart is. It’s a fabulous city. I can get the best food in England. If I want to go for a nice countryside walk I can go up to the moors, I can go to the city centre and sit around City Park, if I want to go for a walk in the forest I can do that – there is every location you could ever want in Bradford. I wanted to show off the city. We had a lot of locations and probably the most challenging thing about the production was that I really wanted to show Bradford off. You do need locations that are “sexy” and Bradford has got loads. I was like a child in a toyshop looking at locations.’
The opening chase scene was filmed in Kirkgate Market at Kirkgate Shopping Centre. ‘I went to Kirkgate Market every Saturday with my parents, onto Darley Street, into Marks & Spencer,’ says Amit. ‘I know that Kirkgate Shopping Centre is marked for demolition soon because we’ve got the new shopping centre so I thought this is a chance to make this place last forever, leaving that memory for all the Bradfordians who grew up in and around Bradford.’
When Harry and Saima attend a wedding in episode one, the scenes are filmed at City Park – a six-acre park in the heart of Bradford. ‘I always try to pick the location that mirrors what is emotionally happening in the scene,’ Amit explains. ‘We’re in City Park with the water fountains and the Mirror Pool – it’s vibrant and beautiful and it’s lit well, and Saima has this sparkling outfit on. The backdrop reflects what’s happening emotionally and elevates the scene.
‘Later on, Harry’s got to deal with some bad guys and we go to Cannon Mills for a nightmare-ish ruin – it’s dark, intimidating… but what’s happening on screen is dark and intimidating too. We go into The Bradford Club which not a lot of people know about (opposite Waterstones). It’s where the merchants used to meet and have lunch. It’s got amazing architecture inside: and there’s snooker tables on the top floor and the bar on the middle floor. I loved using locations like this because walking through them is like walking through history. I think about the things that must’ve happened in this place. Bradford was one of the the richest and most powerful cities in Europe 200 years ago – imagine the deals that were done in that building to make it such a powerhouse, and now it’s open to the public.’
While Bradford City of Culture means a spotlight is shining on the city and district this year, Amit hopes Virdee viewers appreciate the beauty of the city amongst the action. ‘No one’s going to think that this is one of the formulaic police dramas that we’re used to,’ he says. ‘It’s got that cool, sexy American vibe to it. The colour scheme, the palette, the soundtrack with Hans Zimmer… It’s quite a unique thing that we’ve got the most famous and powerful composer in the world. I’m a huge fan of his, and he’s now attached his name to this new crime series in Bradford – that doesn’t happen every day.’
