VIDEO: Bombshell for DS Glenn Branson as TV Grace returns

As Richie says: “Initially it’s shock. He’s fully aware that things aren’t necessarily going to plan. From the previous season Ari has said that Glenn has been a bit different. He’s not been the same around the kids. When he got shot he became kind of gung-ho. Things changed for him. He’s already had that conversation with Roy Grace who was sympathetic. He said to Glenn, ‘Show her that you do care and you do love her and then everything will be fine.’ So he is in that place when the bombshell hits. It really gets to him. They’ve been to couples therapy and they are trying to work things through. It hasn’t been plain sailing but the fact that she has cheated he didn’t expect that at all. He tells Roy that he went to the hospital where she works and he saw Ari with another man, like bam. There is no hiding from that. To walk in on something like that is such a hard thing to do and there are so many other factors involved. They’ve got kids and he was really trying to push for promotions at work. It’s a real moment for Glenn.”

What discussions did Richie have with Rebecca Scroggs who plays Ari about how to show this?

“A lot of it was on the page but also we didn’t really want to go down the traditional route of a shouting match and, ‘it’s your fault’. It is more complicated than that. There are factors from her end. She felt he had just been putting in a lot of time at work and not paying attention to her needs. He felt that he was working to provide and to show his kids, Sammy especially, a better life, something more meaningful and to be proud of. When I discussed it with Rebecca we thought it didn’t necessarily need to be approached from the emotional side. Instead, it’s more the head side. Let’s think about this and really show the complexities of the relationship. I’m hoping the viewers will understand that. There are some people who because we have got to know who Glenn is will be rooting for him but there will be other viewers who will be saying, ‘I totally understand Ari’s perspective.’”

In this series:

FILM ONE - DEAD LIKE YOU. A chilling event at the Royal Edward hotel on the night of Assistant Chief Constable, Alison Vosper’s leaving do forces Grace and Branson into a difficult position when they must investigate all hotel guests, including high ranking East Sussex police attendees. Something about the incident is causing a deep unease in Grace - he knows he’s seen this before. Has a sinister offender from Grace’s past dubbed the Brighton Prowler resurfaced or is this a copycat? As the attacks continue, Grace is convinced it’s the same man – and delving into the past may be the key to saving the next victim.

FILM TWO - DEAD MAN’S GRIP. Grace and his team are called to the site of a tragic road traffic collision involving three vehicles: an articulated lorry, a car and a blue pickup truck. An unexpected discovery at the scene, found on the victim, soon suggests there could be far more to this particular accident than meets the eye, sparking an unsettling chain of events which leads Grace and Branson on a tense, desperate game of cat and mouse through the city of Brighton to save an innocent life before time runs out.

FILM THREE - NOT DEAD YET. A rising music star, Gaia Lafayette, receives the opportunity of a lifetime, and the same night that she excitedly announces to her devoted fans that she and her band are headed to LA, a shocking turn of events leads Grace and Branson to believe someone may be trying to harm her. With a perpetrator on the loose, Roy must deduce who of Gaia’s fanbase may be concealing sinister intentions. Meanwhile, a grisly discovery on a remote Sussex pig farm puts Roy under serious pressure, forcing him to split his team in order to investigate two impossible lines of enquiry.