DSI Roy Grace Is Back With Season 6: Are You Ready to Return to Brighton?

Last Updated on April 22, 2026

Grace is one of those crime dramas that feels like settling into a familiar armchair, even when the cases are anything but cozy.

Based on Peter James’s bestselling Roy Grace novels, the series brings us back again and again to the windswept streets and shadowy corners of Brighton, where a thoughtful detective superintendent quietly gets on with the business of solving some very knotty crimes.

I’ve always thought Grace works so well on screen because it stays close to the heart of Peter James’s books: solid procedural puzzles wrapped around a detective whose home life is just as compelling as his cases.

With 20 novels, which began in 2005, the books follow Detective Superintendent Roy Grace as he balances modern policing with the lingering mystery of his missing wife and the emotional baggage that comes with it.

On television, those stories are reimagined as feature-length episodes, each adapted from one of the books and set firmly in Brighton, with its seafront glitz and slightly gritty underbelly.

John Simm’s Roy Grace isn’t a flashy “TV detective”; he’s steady, observant, and often quietly troubled, which fits beautifully with the tone of the novels and makes the show feel grounded rather than melodramatic.

Season 6 Arrives on March 29

Grace Season 6 is just around the corner, landing on March 29th, 2026, and it’s bringing four new feature-length films to our screens.

Once again, we’re back with Roy in Brighton, following him through big, self-contained cases that still gently nudge his personal story forward in the background.

I don’t want to give any spoilers in case you haven’t already seen season 5, but we know that the new run keeps the show’s familiar structure: each episode tells its own story, so you can enjoy them as standalone mysteries while still picking up on ongoing threads if you’ve been watching from the start.

From the first-look trailers and previews, we can expect the usual mix of contemporary crimes, moral grey areas, and the odd moment that makes you mutter “oh, that’s not going to end well” at the screen.

A Gentle Tour Through Seasons 1–5 (No Spoilers)

If you’re new to Grace, or you’ve dipped in and out, the first five seasons make a surprisingly easy catch-up because of the “one big case per film” format.

Each season consists of several feature-length episodes, with the police investigation front and centre and Roy’s personal life quietly threading through in the background like a slow-burning B-plot.

In the early seasons, we meet Roy at a difficult point in his life, already established as a talented detective but carrying the emotional weight of his wife’s unexplained disappearance.

As the seasons go on, we see him trying to move forward while still being pulled back by unanswered questions, and later episodes introduce new family complications that test how he balances work and home.

Case-wise, the show ranges from missing-person mysteries to long-buried secrets and very contemporary crimes, always rooted firmly in Brighton and the surrounding area.

Across seasons 1–5, the tone stays consistent: thoughtful, slightly sombre in places, but with enough warmth, camaraderie, and small human moments that it never feels bleak, which is exactly why it works so nicely for cozy mystery fans who like their edges a little softer.

Cast and Characters

At the centre of it all is John Simm as Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, a dedicated officer who tends to put the job first and himself second.

He’s the kind of character who doesn’t shout to be noticed but quietly anchors every scene, and Simm leans into that steady, slightly weary intelligence that makes Roy so believable.

Richie Campbell plays DS Glenn Branson, Roy’s colleague and friend, bringing energy and warmth that nicely balance Roy’s more introspective nature.

Zoë Tapper appears as Cleo Morey, whose connection to Roy adds a softer, more domestic note, while Laura Elphinstone’s DS Bella Moy and Brad Morrison’s DC Nick Nicholl round out the team, like colleagues who really do share long shifts and worse coffee.

One of the small pleasures of Grace is watching this ensemble quietly evolve as the cases roll on: relationships deepen, dynamics shift, but it never turns into soap opera territory.

Instead, those character moments arrive in little off-duty scenes and snatches of conversation that reward regular viewers without confusing newcomers who just want a good mystery for the evening.

Where To Watch Grace

If you’re in the UK, Grace is an ITV series, so new episodes of season 6 will air on ITV1 and then be available on ITVX, with earlier seasons also streaming there.

Previous seasons have also turned up on services like BritBox and as digital purchases, so if you prefer to own your mysteries, you’ve got options.

In the US, the show has been available via BritBox (both directly and as an add-on through platforms like Prime Video) and on the Roku Channel, with seasons collected there for easy binge-watching.

Availability can shift as rights move around, so it’s always worth checking your preferred streaming search tool, but BritBox remains the safest first stop if you’re stateside and keen to spend more time in Brighton with Roy.

If you watch mainly cozy crime and you like the idea of self-contained mysteries with an ongoing emotional thread, Grace is well worth lining up on your watchlist before March 29 rolls around.