Virdee: BBC crime drama set in Bradford reportedly axed after just one series following poor viewing figures
BBC crime drama Virdee has reportedly been axed by the broadcasted after just one series.
The cop drama first hit screens in February 2025, with the Bradford-set series airing six episodes.
Staring Staz Nair as DCI Harry Virdee, the show followed the cop as he hunted a killer targeting the Asian community in the West Yorkshire city. Virdee also battled with his personal life in the show including his Sikh family’s dismay at his decision to marry a muslim woman named Saima.
It was based on the DCI Harry Virdee novels form crime writer A. A. Dhand. The author also penned the screenplay for the series.
However, while the BBC were hoping to rejuvenate the cop drama genre with the show, reports now suggest that disappointing viewing figures have led to Virdee being xed after just one series.
The Sun reports that there are no plans for new installments of Virdee any time soon. A source told the newspaper: “There was a lot of hope that Virdee would work because it was a deviation for a crime series and it did gain its own following.
“But the audience just didn’t come in sufficient numbers to make it a viable proposition for a second series.”
Virdee was well-reviewed by critics and those who did tune in, but the viewing figures failed to impress bosses. Airing in the BBC One primetime spot on Monday evenings, some episodes of the series pulled in less than one million viewers, with only 743,000 tuning in at some points.
The BBC said in a statement to The Sun that viewing figures increased to 3.3m when including iPlayer figures. They added: “We’d like to thank Amit Dhand and the Virdee team for a brilliant series, we are really proud of the show and we are talking to Amit about future projects.”