Adjoa Andoh is moving from the world of Bridgerton to a very different kind of drama. The actress will star in and co-create Protect and Serve (working title), a new six-part crime series commissioned by ITV. Developed with screenwriter Helen Black, the project places a murder investigation at the centre of a story about institutional failures, vulnerable children and the personal cost of policing.
Andoh plays Detective Inspector Araba Dadzie, a senior officer on a Homicide and Major Enquiry Team in Leeds. When a teenage boy living in a privately owned children’s care home is shot dead, Araba and her team begin investigating his life and the circumstances surrounding his death. The case soon draws her into a wider national scandal involving Britain’s unregulated children’s care homes.
What Is Adjoa Andoh’s New ITV Crime Drama Protect and Serve About?
Rather than focusing solely on identifying a killer, Protect and Serve uses the investigation to examine the systems responsible for protecting children in care. The teenage victim had been living in the privately run home with his brother after their grandfather fell ill. As Araba and her team piece together the boy’s life, the investigation raises questions about the treatment of vulnerable young people and those who profit from their circumstances.
The series also follows the pressures facing Araba outside the police force. A mother and daughter herself, she is balancing a demanding career with the responsibilities of caring for her elderly parents and raising her children. Having worked her way up through the ranks as a woman of colour in the police, she knows the personal sacrifices involved in maintaining her position.
Andoh described the character through the competing demands of her professional and private life: “How does a woman juggle an aging father, a chippy student daughter and a non-existent sex life, while investigating murders as a black female cop?”
The actress has also spoken about the social questions driving the series, particularly the need to protect children living in care.
Who Created Protect and Serve and Who Is Behind the ITV Series?
Andoh co-created Protect and Serve with Helen Black, who is writing the series. Black’s previous television credits include Time II, Joan and The Wives. Her background also brings a direct connection to the drama’s subject matter: she previously practised as a solicitor, advocating for children in care, and has drawn on that experience in her screenwriting.
The series is produced by Big Talk Studios, the company behind Ludwig and The Outlaws. Nimer Rashed, whose directing credits include Netflix’s Harlan Coben adaptations Run Away and Missing You, will direct, with Stella Nwimo producing.
Executive producers include Andoh, Black, Big Talk Studios chief executive Kenton Allen, Jenny van der Lande and Chris Clough. Van der Lande originally introduced and developed the project.
ITV’s Director of Drama Polly Hill said the broadcaster wanted the series to combine the conventions of a police drama with a wider social perspective. “We have a shared ambition, together with Big Talk, to make a great police series that also has something to say,” she commented.
When Will Protect and Serve Premiere on ITV?
Protect and Serve is scheduled to begin filming in early 2027, with further casting announcements expected closer to production. ITV has not yet announced a premiere date.
The series will be produced in association with ITV Studios, which will also handle its international distribution. While Andoh is widely recognised for playing Lady Agatha Danbury in Netflix’s Bridgerton and its spin-off Queen Charlotte, Protect and Serve marks her first television series as a creator.
