Adrian Dunbar on his 'more confident' Ridley return – and how season 2 is tackling 'male grief'

Returning to the world of Ridley, season two promises a variety of new cases, including a violent jewellery heist, a body discovered in a woodland and the death of a property heir at an illegal rave.

When asked how it felt to return to set, Adrian said it was good to get the team back together.

"It felt great because once you come back to do a second series, you sort of know what you're doing and you're more confident about the format and the piece itself."

The one thing that helps him get into character, though? His signature brown leather jacket.

"To find an iconic piece of costume was something we thought about, and we found that particularly old, beaten-up jacket and thought, 'Yeah, this will bring a bit of characterisation to the piece,'" he said.

Also returning is Julie Graham as Annie Marling, Ridley's close friend and the owner of the local jazz bar where he performs.

Annie was a friend of both Ridley and his late wife, making her "almost too close" for romance. 

However, as the story unfolds, Adrian suggested viewers may start to sense a deeper connection between the two.

"It's only when John Mickey's character, [Harry Bentham], shows a huge amount of interest in Annie that he suddenly starts to think, 'Oh, hang on a minute, why have I got these feelings – why is this guy winding me up so much?" said Adrian.

By the end of the series, their closeness becomes undeniable, though there's no big romantic finale just yet. It's more "a bag of chips and a good night out", teases Adrian.

In season one, Ridley was still reeling from the deaths of his wife Kate and daughter Ella in an arson attack, leading to his early retirement.

"This series is a kind of a transition to someone who's moving on," Adrian explained. 

"I think it's important for audiences to know that it’s difficult, but you can move on from grief, so I'm trying to play that and grade that as it’s happening."

Part of that journey includes speaking to psychotherapist Dr Larson (played by Suzanne Packer).

"We don't use her a lot, but when we do, it's to make an interesting point," he noted. 

"I think it is important that you talk about it and own up to the fact that you’re struggling."

Another way Ridley explores male grief is through singing – and Adrian, who has featured on the West End in shows like Kiss Me Kate, sings a song in each episode.

It's a risky move, Adrian admits, to drop a song into the middle of a police procedural, but in Ridley, it feels right.

By collaborating with singer Richard Hawley on numbers that "echo the mood of the piece" and speak to themes of male grief, the music becomes part of the storytelling.

"It makes the template of what we're doing as a police procedural different," said Adrian.

"You kind of need that because we're trying to fit a very particular slot, that Sunday night slot.

We don't want to be cosy and we're not cosy – the crime stories themselves are complicated and not too visceral, but we try to keep those as real as possible."