ITV has released extensive details for new detective drama Grace starring John Simm alongside Richie Campbell

Set in Brighton (and filmed during 2020), Grace is a two-hour detective drama adapted from the Peter James novel Dead Simple. It stars John Simms as Roy Grace, a hard working police officer dedicated to the job. The drama opens with Grace’s career at rock bottom. He’s fixated by the disappearance of his beloved wife, Sandy, which haunts his thoughts. He’s in the last chance saloon running enquiries into long forgotten cold cases with little prospect of success. Following another reprimand for his unorthodox methods, Grace is walking a career tightrope and risks being moved from the job he loves most.

With so much at stake, his colleague Detective Sergeant Glenn Branson (Richie Campbell), asks him for help with a case. When a stag night prank appears to go wrong and the groom goes missing, Branson asks Grace to help unravel events that led to the mysterious disappearance three days before his wedding to his beautiful fiancé. A successful property developer with everything to live for, there is no trace of the missing groom.

Is this a case of stag night shenanigans gone badly awry? Or is this something more sinister?Peter James is best known for his fast-paced and gripping stories and is one of the world’s most successful writers. His Superintendent Roy Grace books have been translated into 37 languages with worldwide sales of over 21 million copies and 17 number one Sunday Times Bestsellers. His last Roy Grace novel, Find Them Dead spent 7 weeks at number one in 2020.

For John Simm it’s a return to the world of policing, following Life on Mars (fifteen years ago!) In his interview he gives some interesting insights:

… I’m a voracious reader, but had never read a lot of crime fiction before. Once I started reading the Peter James’ novels I couldn’t stop, I’m currently on book ten. They are very clever and Peter is brilliant at what he does. My father-in-law was a policeman in the Met Police for thirty odd years. He read the first few and was very complimentary about the procedural stuff that’s in there. He said it was rare for an author to get it absolutely bang on. I think Peter prides himself in that, he’s a very clever writer and they are an addictive series of books.

There’s every reason to hope this two-hour drama might be the first of many. You can find the press pack link in the ITV announcement.