Adjoa Andoh's ITV Crime Drama 'Protect and Serve' Heads to Leeds in Early 2027

One of the more compelling new ITV commissions to enter pre-production this year, Protect and Serve is a six-part crime drama co-created by Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh and acclaimed crime writer Helen Black, with filming set in Leeds beginning in early 2027. For crew working in Yorkshire and the broader north of England, this is a significant production to have on the radar now. Big Talk Studios is producing for ITV, and the show carries the kind of creative pedigree and institutional backing that signals a well-resourced, professionally run set well worth pursuing.

Andoh, best known to global audiences as Lady Danbury in Netflix's Bridgerton, steps into a very different register here, both in front of and behind the camera. She stars as Detective Inspector Araba Dadzie, a senior officer on a homicide and major enquiry team in central Leeds, navigating a complex investigation into the shooting of a teenage boy living in a privately run, unregulated children's care home. It is a role that draws on Andoh's long and varied career in British drama, and the fact that she co-created the series and serves as executive producer signals genuine personal investment in the material. Helen Black, her co-creator and the sole writer on the project, brings serious crime drama credentials to the table. Black wrote Time II, the follow-up to the BAFTA-winning Jimmy McGovern prison drama, and has recent credits on Joan and The Wives, all of which demonstrate a sharp instinct for socially urgent, character-driven storytelling. The writer and actor have crafted a story that explicitly engages with race, public service, and the quiet scandal of Britain's care system, which suggests a production with a strong editorial point of view and a commitment to authentic representation both on screen and on set.

The director attached is Nimer Rashed, whose profile has risen sharply in recent years through his work on the Harlan Coben adaptation slate at Netflix UK, including Fool Me Once, Missing You, and Run Away. Those productions gave Rashed extensive experience with propulsive, location-driven crime narratives at a scale comparable to what Protect and Serve will require. His familiarity with the rhythms of British crime drama and his existing relationships with the production infrastructure that supports that genre make him a strong fit here. Executive producers alongside Andoh and Black are Kenton Allen, Jenny van der Lande, and Chris Clough, with Stella Nwimo serving as producer. Allen is the chief executive of Big Talk Studios and a long-standing figure in British comedy and drama production, and his involvement as an exec signals that the studio is treating this as a priority project.

Big Talk Studios is the production company behind the series, producing for ITV Studios. Big Talk has built a strong reputation over the years across both comedy and drama, with credits including Fleabag, The Outlaws, and Starstruck among their more recognisable titles. Their output tends to skew towards distinctive, voice-led projects with strong authorial identity, and Protect and Serve fits that profile squarely. ITV Studios as a co-producing partner adds the institutional weight and distribution infrastructure of one of the UK's major broadcasters, and an ITV commission at six parts suggests a healthy episode order with the kind of budget that supports a full department structure. This is not a shoestring production. Expect a mid-to-upper-tier UK drama budget, union-covered employment terms, and the full range of department head positions to be staffed out in the months ahead.

Leeds is both the narrative setting and the confirmed filming location, and that is genuinely good news for Yorkshire-based crew. The city has seen a steady growth in production activity over the past decade, bolstered in part by Channel 4's relocation of its headquarters to Leeds and the broader push to diversify UK production away from London. The city and surrounding region have served as the backdrop for numerous high-profile UK dramas, and the local crew base, while not as deep as Manchester or London, continues to grow. Productions shooting in Leeds and the wider West Yorkshire area typically draw a blend of local hires and specialists brought up from London, so both regional crew and those willing to travel should consider this a live prospect. The UK's tax relief framework for high-end television drama, which provides a significant rebate on qualifying production expenditure, almost certainly informs the decision to base the show in its natural setting rather than replicate Leeds on a southern stage. That alignment between story geography and actual filming location is a good sign for authenticity and practical logistics alike.

With a January 2027 start date, Protect and Serve sits at a comfortable distance for crew and department heads to begin tracking and making approaches. Pre-production at this stage typically involves the core producing team, the writer's room, and early conversations with heads of department in areas like production design, costume, and camera. A six-episode crime drama set in a contemporary urban environment will require a strong locations department given the breadth of settings implied by the story, including police incident rooms, care home environments, residential Leeds, and likely the procedural machinery of a major enquiry team. Art department and costume will be building a world that feels rigorously real, not stylised, so candidates with grounded, naturalistic drama experience will be well positioned. As the start date draws closer, the full crew list and production office contacts will become available through the complete listing on ProductionList.com.

This is exactly the kind of production that rewards early attention. Keep Protect and Serve bookmarked on ProductionList.com, where the full listing will be updated with crew contacts, the production office address in Leeds, and scheduling details as pre-production deepens. If you are a department head, coordinator, or specialist with British crime drama experience, now is the right time to make yourself known to Big Talk Studios and the producing team before the key positions are locked in.

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