New cast confirmed for DCI Banks, starring Stephen Tompkinson

Contemporary detective drama DCI Banks starring Stephen Tompkinson (Trollied, Truckers, Wild At Heart), Andrea Lowe (Love Life, Monroe) and Caroline Catz (Doc Martin) has gone into production in the stunning county of Yorkshire, ITV confirmed today.  

The six-part drama features new cast members Samuel Anderson (Trollied, Doctor Who) who will play Vince, the latest member of Banks’ team, Shaun Dingwall (Leg-ends, Silent Witness) as Chief Superintendent Colin Anderson, Shaun Dooley (Broadchurch, Ordinary Lies) as hardened career criminal Steve Richards and Maimie McCoy (Musketeers) as Richards’ wife, Tamsin. The series will also see the return of popular cast members Jack Deam (New Tricks, Casualty) as DC Ken Livingstone and Keith Barron (Holby City, Doctors) as Banks’ father, Arthur Banks.  

Produced by award-winning indie Left Bank Pictures, series five is set to be the gritti-est season yet with the Yorkshire detective facing his toughest investigation to date.  The series is comprised of 6 x 60’ original episodes inspired by the books from ac-claimed novelist Peter Robinson.  The drama features self-contained stories told over two episodes, but also, in an explosive serial crime story that weaves throughout the whole series, DCI Banks will be forced to question all that he holds dear, as he pits his detective skills against criminals who will stop at nothing to escape the law.  

When Banks confronts a powerful adversary who has been dubbed by his superiors as too big to bring down, his dogged pursuit of justice sets in motion a chain of events that rips at the very fabric of his life, both professional and personal. Helen encounters unexpected challenges when she tries for promotion and Annie pursues her own results-driven, gut instinct style of policing which threatens to ruin her rela-tionship with Banks.  

The first story finds Banks drawn into the dark world of self-harm when a school teacher and his pupil are found dead. In the second story, Annie discovers a disturb-ing secret as the team investigate a kidnap within Leeds’ Chinese community and in the final two episodes, Banks’ team question how far he will go in pursuit of justice when he enters a dangerous cat-and-mouse game to pin down a man who is seem-ingly outside the reach of the law.    

The series will be produced by Anne-Louise Russell (Casualty as producer, DCI Banks, Crossing Lines as script executive). Radford Neville (Wuthering Heights, Loving Miss Hatto, The Borrowers) who produced series four of the drama returns as executive producer alongside Left Bank Pictures Chief Executive, Andy Harries. Peter Robinson continues his involvement in the creative process, ensuring the stories are true to his characters and the spirit of DCI Banks.    Series 5 will be directed by Craig Pickles (DCI Banks, Suspects), Robert Quinn (Home Fires, Jekyll And Hyde) and Mark Brozel (Dickensian, Holy Cross).   The series has been commissioned for ITV by Director of Drama, Steve November and Head of Drama Series, Jane Hudson.   

“DCI Banks has become a firm favourite with the ITV drama audience and this series will be the grittiest yet,” said Jane.  “We’ll see the team embark on an investigation that will truly change things forever.”   

BBC Worldwide will distribute DCI Banks internationally.