“The grittiest season yet!”

New cast has been confirmed for the fifth series of popular crime drama DCI Banks, as production begins.

Joining Stephen Tompkinson (Trollied, Wild At Heart) – who will once again reprise his role as Yorkshire’s DCI Banks, alongside Andrea Lowe (Love Life, Monroe) and Caroline Catz (Doc Martin) – will be Doctor Who‘s Samuel Anderson – who will play Vince, the latest member of Banks’ team; Shaun Dingwall (Silent Witness) as Chief Superintendent Colin Anderson, Shaun Dooley (Ordinary Lies) as hardened career criminal Steve Richards; and The Musketeers Maimie McCoy, as Richards’ wife, Tamsin.

The six-part series will also see the return of Jack Deam (Casualty) and Keith Barron (Holby City) as DC Ken Livingstone and Banks’ father, Arthur Banks, respectively.

Series five sees Banks confront 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 relationship 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 disturbing 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 seemingly outside the reach of the law.

ITV’s Head of Drama Series, Jane Hudson, said: “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.” 

Filmed in Yorkshire, DCI Banks is produced by Left Bank Pictures and inspired by the books from acclaimed novelist Peter Robinson, who acts as a consultant on the detective drama.