Ridley is a British police procedural drama created and written by Paul Matthew Thompson, a screenwriter on the police drama Vera, and Jonathan Fisher. The series is co-produced by Adrian Dunbar, who also stars as the title character.
The first of four feature-length mysteries aired on ITV on 28 August 2022. Filming took place on location, mainly in rural areas in the north of England in Lancashire, the Yorkshire Dales and on the Pennine moors, with some scenes set in Bolton. A second series was commissioned in 2023 and began airing in the United States starting Sunday, 15 September 2024 and aired in UK on ITV from Sunday 10 August 2025.
Alex Ridley (Adrian Dunbar) is a former detective inspector who is brought back in as a consultant some eighteen months after an early retirement, due to a nervous breakdown from having to come to terms with the loss of his wife and daughter in a house fire. He spends some of his retirement time as a pianist and singer in a jazz club of which he is a co-owner, and each episode ends with him singing. He assists former colleague Carol Farman (Bronagh Waugh), newly promoted to detective inspector.