Adjoa Andoh to Create and Star in ITV Detective Drama Protect and Serve
Adjoa Andoh is creating and starring in a new ITV detective drama, and she will play the lead. The project's working title is Protect and Serve, according to Deadline.
Andoh will play DI Araba Dadzie, a detective inspector, which is a senior police detective. Dadzie is a Senior Investigation Officer on a Homicide and Major Enquiry Team in central Leeds. The series is set in the city.
The story starts with a shooting. Police investigate the shooting of a teenage boy who lives in a privately owned children's care home with his brother. The two boys were placed there after their grandfather fell ill. The drama follows the investigation from there.
Andoh co-created the series with Helen Black. It is Andoh's first television drama creation. She is also an executive producer, alongside Black and Kenton Allen.
Jenny van der Lande introduced and developed the project. She executive produces alongside Chris Clough. Nimer Rashed will direct, and Stella Nwimo is the producer.
The series comes from Big Talk Studios. ITV Studios is producing in association with Big Talk and will distribute the show internationally, meaning it will be sold to broadcasters and platforms outside the UK. Distribution is the business of selling a finished programme to buyers in other countries.
Filming is set to begin in early 2027. Until then, the title is a working one, which means it can change before the show airs. No broadcast date has been announced.
For viewers, the news is simple. A new detective drama is in development, with a lead actor who is also helping to write its foundations. For the people who will make it, the next milestone is the start of filming, when writers, actors and crew move from planning into production.
