We are delighted to announce that ITV has commissioned a second series of GRACE, the detective drama based on Number One bestselling author Peter James’s Detective Superintendent Roy Grace book series. John Simm will return as Brighton-based Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, with Russell Lewis returning as screenwriter.
Co-starring Richie Campbell as DS Glenn Branson and Rakie Ayola as ACC Vosper, the first GRACE film DEAD SIMPLE (which aired on ITV in March) achieved consolidated ratings of 8.8m viewers and received glowing reviews from the critics. DEAD SIMPLE is currently being rolled out around the rest of the world along with the second episode, LOOKING GOOD DEAD.
The new Roy Grace dramas set to be filmed are NOT DEAD ENOUGH, DEAD MAN’S FOOTSTEPS and DEAD TOMORROW. The three 120-minute films are produced by Second Act Productions and Tall Story Pictures, both part of ITV Studios, and Vaudeville Productions.
ITV’s Head of Drama Polly Hill commented: ‘We are delighted to be adapting more of Peter James’ wonderful novels. John Simm has brilliantly brought the much-loved Detective Superintendent Roy Grace to screen and there are many more cases for the audiences to enjoy.’
Writer Russell Lewis commented: ‘After the overwhelmingly positive audience response to the seaside noir of DEAD SIMPLE, (tabloid trauma tales notwithstanding!) and LOOKING GOOD DEAD cued up ready to go, all at Team Roy Grace are delighted to have been given the opportunity by ITV to return to Brighton (& Hove, actually!) to continue Roy's story with a new series of films based on Peter James’ best-selling novels.
We’ll be shooting out of our Brighton HQ and all along and around the South Coast from late summer through to very late autumn, so it’s quite possible that like some macabre Radio Fab Roadshow, our caravanserai of coroner’s van, SOCO unit, Mobile Incident Room may well be coming to a street near you! As the late, great Shaw Taylor used to ask viewers on Police 5... “Keep ‘em peeled!”’
Executive producers are Andrew O’Connor and Paul Sandler for Second Act Productions, Patrick Schweitzer for Tall Story Pictures, Michael Vine for Vaudeville Productions, Russell Lewis and Peter James.
ITV Studios are responsible for the international distribution of Grace and recently streamed DEAD SIMPLE and LOOKING GOOD DEAD via Britbox North America, where the new series will also be exclusively available in North America. Further international streaming plans will be announced soon.
North American praise for GRACE
GRACE was included in many One to Watch lists, including Gatehouse Media/USA Today Network , Yahoo!, Entertainment Weekly, The Washington Post, Celebrity Page, The Seattle Times, TV Week, Reality Yeo, Tribute and Entertainment Weekly.
‘Excellent, with engaging, complex mysteries and a main character that gets us on their side. Simm, who has played both good and bad guys just in the last few years, hooks us immediately as Roy Grace... It certainly made us look forward to the second episode in the limited run of the first season.’ — Decider
‘A smart and involving tale.’ — Mike Hughes, TV’s Best Bits, Mansfield News Journal
'What the Brits do so well is to create real, human, flawed but likable detectives... I could not stop watching. I think I held my breath for an hour. Brilliant acting from John Simm and the sort of jigsaw puzzle cinematography that is the hallmark of British TV... Everybody go and watch.' — Rhys Bowen, Jungle Red
The seventeenth instalment in the Roy Grace book series, LEFT YOU DEAD, is published in the UK by Pan Macmillan on 13 May 2021. Peter James has also written a Roy Grace novella, WISH YOU WERE DEAD, for The Reading Agency’s QuickReads scheme, to be published on 27 May 2021. The paperback of the standalone thriller I FOLLOW YOU will be out on 24 June 2021.
The LEFT YOU DEAD launch event, hosted by Laura Whitmore, will take place on Wednesday 12th May. You can register for free here. On Thursday 13th May, Peter James will be in conversation with GRACE star John Simm. Details on how to view this event online can be found here.
About Peter James
Peter James is the international bestselling author of many award-winning novels, translated into thirty-seven languages with worldwide sales of over twenty million copies. His Brighton-set Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series has given him seventeen consecutive Sunday Times Number Ones. In 2015 WH Smith customers voted him the Greatest Crime Author of All Time and in 2016 he was awarded the coveted CWA Diamond Dagger, a lifetime achievement award for sustained excellence. In 2018 he received a Specsavers Honorary Platinum Bestseller Award.
In addition to his career as a novelist, he has produced several films, including THE MERCHANT OF VENICE starring Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes. He also co-created the hit Channel 4 series Bedsitcom, which was nominated for a Rose d'Or.
Successful nationwide tours of the stage plays of THE PERFECT MURDER (2014) and DEAD SIMPLE (2015) have packed theatres in dozens of British cities, and garnered magnificent reviews and NOT DEAD ENOUGH opened to full houses and acclaim in 2017. January 2019 saw the opening of the stage tour of THE HOUSE ON COLD HILL, with the sequel THE SECRET OF COLD HILL published in October 2019. The stage play of LOOKING GOOD DEAD will tour the UK later in 2021, starring award-winning actor and EastEnders icon, Adam Woodyatt.
More praise for GRACE
‘A very effective appetite-whetter… The unpretentious storytelling makes this an easy watch, helmed by the always watchable Simm.’ – The Mail on Sunday, Pick of the Day
‘It’s a good’un... John Simm was pleasingly understated as Detective Superintendent Roy Grace and the adaptation was well done by Russell Lewis, creator of ENDEAVOUR. Richie Campbell was great as Roy’s colleague, DS Branson, bringing just the right amount of energy to proceedings... If ITV can find room in the schedules, another Grace instalment would go down nicely.’ – Anita Singh, The Telegraph
‘Roy Grace doesn’t have any obvious gimmick to mark him out, but he swiftly establishes himself as a solid addition to the Sunday-night pack… Chilling.’ – James Jackson, The Times, Critic’s Choice
‘Grace and Branson’s race to find Michael made for truly nail-biting TV and there were great performances, with Simm as watchable as ever as the shrewd, yet vulnerable Grace… With more to come later this year… I’ll certainly be tuning in.’ – Gwendolyn Smith, The i
‘The intricate, twist-laden plot, atmospheric south-coast location and impressive performances mean that GRACE is likely to be a hit with fans of the books and newcomers alike.’ – The Sun, Pick of the Day