DETECTIVE drama Grace has proved a huge hit for ITV.
Each episode of the show focuses on a different heinous crime, with some fans wondering if the series is based on a book.
ITV’s Grace is a crime drama with a huge fan base
Is ITV’s Grace based on a book?
The ITV series Grace is based on a series of books about a detective called Roy Grace, written by Peter James.
He is an award-winning author who is known for his gripping novels.
Over the years he has written 19 Grace novels, so ITV have plenty of material for future series’.
The first series was just based on one book, but the second and third include several novels each.
Season one
The first series is based on the author’s first Grace novel called Dead Simple.
The book was released in 2005 and the synopsis reads: “It was meant to be a harmless stag night prank. A few hours later four of his best friends are dead and Michael Harrison has disappeared.
“With only three days to the wedding, Detective Superintendent Grace – a man haunted by the shadow of his own missing wife – is contacted by Michael’s beautiful, distraught fiancée, Ashley Harper.”
Season two
The second season took on four of Peter’s Grace books, in the four-part series:
- Looking Good Dead
- Not Dead Enough
- Dead Man’s Footsteps
- Dead Tomorrow
Season three
The third series covers a trio of books, over three episodes:
- Dead Like You
- Dead Man’s Grip
- Not Dead Yet
How does Grace compare to books?
Actor John Simm plays Detective Superintendent Roy Grace in the screenplay adaptation of the book, and talked about how the show compared to the books.
Speaking to The Mirror he said: “It’s a delicate balancing act because they’re two different things: A novel isn’t a TV show, and a TV show isn’t a novel.
“While we’re trying to be true to source material, it’s a TV show and so fans of the novel… some of them will be up in arms because it won’t be the characters they had in their head.
“But there’s nothing we as actors can do about that, we just have to serve the script and what is in front of us.”
He added: “I can’t really be worrying if the people who are into the novels won’t like it.”
When is Grace on TV?
Grace returns to ITV with season 3 on Sunday, March 19, 2023.
The show will air for three episodes on Sunday nights at 8pm, and will each be two hours long.
You can catch up with season one and two of Grace on the ITVX.
