Crime drama DCI Banks will return to ITV next year for its “grittiest” season so far.

Six new episodes of the contemporary detective series have been commissioned by ITV.

Stephen Tompkinson (Wild At Heart) will reprise his role as DCI Alan Banks alongside Andrea Lowe (Monroe) as DS Annie Cabbot and Caroline Catz (Doc Martin) as DI Helen Morton.

Tompkinson commented: “I couldn’t be more thrilled that DCI Banks is returning. Series five is taking us to its most dramatic place so far and I can’t wait to be reunited with the cast and crew to make our most memorable series to date.”

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

Executive producer Andy Harries teased: “The stunning backdrop of the Yorkshire countryside is deeply contrasted with the uncompromising storylines the team are dealing with.”

Season 5 will see the Yorkshire detective tested in “his toughest investigation yet” and “forced to question all that he holds dear”, with an “explosive serial crime story” weaving through the whole season.

The official synopsis reads: “When Banks confronts a powerful adversary who has been dubbed by his superiors as too big to bring down, Banks’ dogged pursuit of justice sets in motion a chain of events that rips at the very fabric of his life, both professional and personal. Banks needs his team around him but Helen’s rule-following approach threatens to undermine him and her desire for promotion could cause a divisive rift.  Spurred on by Helen’s ambition, Annie pursues her own results-driven, gut instinct style of policing, and Ken faces a dilemma when he is entrusted with a secret about Annie’s marriage.”

Written by Chris Murray (Lewis), Nicholas Hicks-Beach (Law & Order: UK) and Paul Logue (Midsomer Murders), the new season will begin filming in Yorkshire in early 2016.

Season 4 aired on ITV earlier this year.

> Buy Season 1 on DVD on Amazon.

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