Adrian Dunbar Stars In Ridley

After playing Superintendent Ted Hastings in “Line Of Duty,” Adrian Dunbar now stars in the British police procedural drama “Ridley.”

I was impressed with the first season of “Ridley”.

The series has been given the go ahead for Season 2 and began filming in September. We should see the release of Season 2 sometime in 2024.

All four episodes of Ridley’s first season can be watched on PBS Passport or Amazon Prime Video. It was broken up into eight episodes on the PBS Masterpiece Amazon Channel.

What Is Ridley About:

Adrian Dunbar plays retired detective Alex Ridley. The series is about a retired detective grieving the deaths of his wife and daughter.

They died in a fire in which he was the intended victim.

Alex Ridley suffered a nervous breakdown over the loss. However, eighteen months later he was asked to come back to work on a consultancy basis.

He is enlisted by his former protégée, DI Carol Farman, to consult on a missing person case which takes an unexpected turn.

Ridley is a fictional drama. But it is said to be partly inspired by real-life retired detectives rejoining police forces in consultancy roles.

Where is Ridley Filmed?

Ridley is filmed in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester.

After London, Greater Manchester is one of the country’s busiest film and television production hubs.

Adrian Dunbar & Music:

Adrian Dunbar is passionate about music, so he wanted the jazz club to be an important element for the Ridley main character.

“I really wanted to do something with music in it, so I suggested that he owned a jazz club. And then I did some research regarding jazz and the north of England and so forth.

Who Wrote The Songs On Ridley?

“I came across Richard Hawley, who I didn’t know, and started listening to his songs,” recalled Dunbar.

Sheffield singer and song writer Richard Hawley was not keen about allowing his songs to be sung on Ridley. It took a lot of persuading.

The two men were brought together by a mutual friend named Jonny.

“He’d used my music in Three Kings, which is a beautiful film,” said Hawley. “He rang me while I was walking the dog and I think I said no again.

“I’m always wary of people by-passing the manager. I’ve been in situations where that has not worked out well, but Jonny is a friend of the family so I said okay.

“Adrian called a couple of days later and described why he needed the songs. He said things about my music that I’d never really thought of before and it was quite profound.

“He said: ‘You deal with male grief. And you’re the only one who does’. That was mind blowing.”

Adrian Dunbar Biography:

Dunbar, an Irish actor, director, and singer was born on August 1, 1958. He was brought up in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, in Northern Ireland. He is the eldest of seven siblings.

Dunbar played Superintendent Ted Hastings in all six series of BBC Television’s Line Of Duty (2012-2021).

He was educated at St Joseph’s College, Enniskillen, before attending the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

Personal Life:

Dunbar has a daughter and stepson from his 1986 marriage to Australian actress Anna Nygh. He lives in Crouch End, North London.

He received an honorary degree of Letters from the University of Ulster in June 2009 in recognition of his services to acting.

Dunbar is also a theater director. He has staged productions for the Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival. He’s been active as an actor, screenwriter, director, and singer from 1980 to the present.

Said Dunbar: “There can be no greater endorsement of hard work and talent than the recommission of a series. And to that end, we have to thank ITV and the British public for taking to ‘Ridley’ in such numbers.

“We shall certainly work just as hard to keep the standard we have set and I look forward to developing Ridley as a character over the next four episodes.”

Ridley Characters:

• Terence Maynard as DCI Paul Goodwin
• Adrian Dunbar as Alex Ridley 
• Bronagh Waugh as DI Carol Farman
• George Bukhari as DC Darren Lakhan 

And Julie Graham As Annie Marling:

Annie Marling helps Ridley run the jazz club. She was friends with his late wife, Kate, and godmother to his late daughter, Ella.

At the end of Season 1 it was suggested that she may become Alex Ridley’s new love interest.

Where Else Have You Seen Julie Graham?

Julie Graham played Rhona Kelly in Shetland, another of our favorites that I recently watched for the second time.

The actress made a welcome return as Rhona Kelly, the public prosecutor responsible for overseeing the police’s investigations. 

Although Douglas Henshall left “Shetland”, the BBC confirmed that it wasn’t the end of the show.

Season 8 of “Shetland” began filming in Spring 2023 in locations on the Shetland Isles and across Scotland.

Based on the award-winning novels by “Vera” creator Ann Cleeves, the BBC crime series first aired a decade ago in 2013.