Adjoa Andoh to lead cast of new ITV crime drama Protect And Save from Big Talk Studios
ITV have announced the commission of new six-part crime drama, Protect and Serve (w/t), starring acclaimed actress, writer and theatre director, Adjoa Andoh (Bridgerton, The Red King, Doctor Who, Invictus), as a detective determined to pursue the truth regardless of the obstacles.
This bittersweet police drama explores the pressures faced by DI Araba Dadzie, a cop, a mother and a daughter. She's a woman in that squeezed middle, juggling profession, elderly parents and children, and a woman of colour in the police force, who has risen through the ranks of her profession and knows what it costs for her to stay there. Protect and Serve draws Araba into the national scandal of Britain’s unregulated children’s care homes, a scandal she cannot ignore.
Set in the bustling city of Leeds, the series is created by Adjoa Andoh and Helen Black, produced by Big Talk Studios, part of ITV Studios, and written by Helen Black (Joan, Time II, The Wives).
The series finds Detective Inspector Araba Dadzie embarking on an investigation into the tragic shooting of a teenage boy, who has been living in a privately owned children’s care home with his brother since his grandfather fell ill.
Determined to discover why the boy has been targeted, Araba and her murder squad team, begin to piece together his life in the care home as they strive to bring his killer to justice. With a reputation as a fearsome investigator, it’s taken unrelenting focus, a bleak sense of humour, a passionate love for the job and personal sacrifice for Araba to stay at the top of her game.
Uncompromising and often obsessive, she is driven by her desire to offer protection to the vulnerable and retribution to those criminally abusing their power in the city she loves.
Adjoa Andoh said: “How does a woman juggle an aging father, a chippy student daughter and a non-existent sex life, while investigating murders as a black female cop. That’s the lot of DI Araba Dadzie, Senior Investigation Officer on a Homicide and Major Enquiry Team in central Leeds. It’s a job that costs, a job that we the public need, and in spite of the challenges, it’s a job Araba feels called to, much like a priest or a teacher.
"Protect and Serve our crime show is set in the great city of Leeds. I love this city and I love the city’s football club Leeds United. I lived in Leeds as a child and half my English family have been Yorkshire sheep farmers going back to the 1600’s - hence the setting...
"I am thrilled by the team behind Protect and Serve. Polly Hill at ITV, Big Talk Studios, Jenny van der Lande, and fabulous writer Helen Black of Time fame. As mothers the national disgrace of our unregulated children’s homes is something we are all shocked by. How do we as a society protect our children? It’s a question that drives Araba, that drives our first season and with amazing director Nimer Rashed at the helm, hot off Netflix’ Harlen Coben thrillers, the highs and lows of this propulsive cop show, we hope, will drive audiences to keep watching and caring.”
ITV's Head Of Drama, Polly Hill, added: “I'm delighted to commission Protect and Serve as I have been wanting to find a show with Adjoa Andoh for some time. We have a shared ambition, together with Big Talk, to make a great police series that also has something to say. Helen Black’s scripts uncover the scandal in privatised children's care homes while Araba lets us see what cost there is to becoming a high ranking black policewoman. It's a show we are very proud to be making for ITV with such a great team."
Big Talk Studios (Ludwig, The Outlaws) is the internationally renowned scripted production company led by multi award-winning Chief Executive Kenton Allen, who will executive produce the series alongside Adjoa Andoh and Helen Black.
Jenny van der Lande (Strike, Mrs Wilson, Too Close, You Don’t Know Me, Joan) introduced and developed the drama and executive produces alongside Chris Clough (Mr Bates vs The Post Office).
Nimer Rashed, director of Harlen Coben smash hits Run Away and Missing You will direct with Stella Nwimo (Virdee, Three Little Birds, Gangs of London) set to produce.
Jenny van der Lande sais: “I am honoured and totally thrilled to be collaborating with two incredible women to bring their brainchild to Polly Hill at ITV. This crime drama will be anchored by the extraordinary Adjoa Andoh, creating a TV detective who we hope audiences will take to their hearts as she unravels a complex case which lays bare the shocking scandal of unregulated children’s care homes. Helen’s wonderful scripts are underpinned by original research and are full of her trademark wit, heart and humanity; providing the cornerstone for Nimer’s fantastic storytelling.”
Alongside her television work, screenwriter Helen Black is also known for writing crime novels with her first book, Damaged Goods, published in 2005. She practised as a solicitor, advocating for children in care, during the early part of her career and has drawn on that experience writing episodes of Time II with creator Jimmy McGovern and the award-winning, Life and Death in the Warehouse.
Helen Black added: “Having long wanted to make a TV show about the care system and the scandal of the profits being made from the most vulnerable children in society, I’m delighted to be able to do so with my co-creator Adjoa Andoh, producer Jenny van der Lande and Polly Hill at ITV. I’m equally delighted that Nimer Rashed has come on board to direct and look forward to working closely with him.”
The series will commence filming early 2027 with further casting news announced closer to production.
