Grace on ITV recap: How series 5 ended and what it means for series 6
The John Simm detective drama is back this March
Grace is back on ITV with series 6 and, even if you’re a huge fan of the show – and the books! – you’ll probably need a recap of what happened in series 5.
Viewers will know that last year finished on quite the cliffhanger. Corrupt cop Cassian Pewe dropped the huge revelation that Roy Grace’s son Bruno could well be in danger.
And that’s not to mention a couple of dangling plots left over from Grace series 4 that weren’t even mentioned, which could come back to bite Roy and his team at any point.
Here’s our recap of all the unresolved plot lines that ITV crime drama Grace left dangling at the end of series 5. Series 6 kicks off several months on from Cassian Pewe’s arrest.
***Warning: spoilers from Grace series 5 ahead***
Grace on ITV series 5 recap: Who is Benchdale?
Roy Grace’s boss Cassian Pewe had an eventful series 5. He was the definition of game-changer in human form. Not only was he revealed to be a bent cop in episode 3, but he spent most of his remaining scenes in the last two episodes delivering one jaw-dropping revelation after another.
If you remember, we finished series 4 believing that Sandy had vanished because she felt overwhelmed and didn’t think she could turn to Roy, who was preoccupied with his career. She was very light on actual details. Then she took her own life. Allegedly.
But in series 5, Cassian revealed more of the truth to Grace, after he had exposed him as a dirty cop. Cassian, it turns out, was being coerced into working for Organised Crime Gang (OCG) Benchdale, run by Kamran Elin. Roel Albazi was working as his second in command.
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Benchdale is an infamous organised crime group involved in serious criminal activity, including the murder of Roy Grace’s first wife, Sandy. In the show’s 2025/2026 storylines, corrupt officials helped cover up the group’s actions. They subsequently targeted Roy’s son, Bruno, making them a central threat.
But Team Grace had so far been unable to pin anything on Benchdale. Elin and Albazi were elusive and smart. They groom lower-tier members of the organisation to do their dirty work, making sure the evidence never traces back to them.
Why was Cassian working for Benchdale?
So what hold did Benchdale have over Cassian? It was all to do with Sandy, he told Roy after he’d been busted.
“What is it they’ve got on you? It must be quite something,” demanded Roy, as they faced off in Brighton’s Hippodrome. But Cassian warned ominously: “I’d be careful what you wish for, Roy.”
He then admitted he had an affair with Sandy, who couldn’t turn to Roy because he was married to his career. She was gambling, drowning in debt and owed £200,000 to Kamran Elin and Roel Albazi. They were threatening to kill her and her unborn child (another thing she didn’t tell Roy about).
“She knew she couldn’t rely on you,” Cassian told Roy. “Her only option was to disappear. So I got her a new identity. She promised she would let me know when she was safe. But I never heard from her. I had no idea what had happened to her.”
Sandy vanished to Munich without even telling Cassian where she’d gone. And he didn’t see her again until she returned to Brighton briefly in series 3. At which point, Benchdale were watching, and they tracked her back to Munich. Or so Cassian said.
We learned more in episode 4, when an incarcerated Cassian summoned Roy to HMP Eastville to deliver more revelations.
Grace on ITV series 5 recap: ‘Benchdale killed Sandy’
Cassian told Roy Grace that Benchdale killed Sandy. He said: “Her death wasn’t suicide. They just made it look that way. They’re good at that.”
“Why should I believe a word you say?” sneered Roy. But the seed of doubt was planted in his mind.
Cassian continued: “Albazi was sighted in Munich two days before Sandy’s death. And the car accident? I’m not sure that’s what it was. Sandy’s debt still isn’t paid. And, though it pains me to say it, they know that she still has a son. Bruno.”
So Albazi’s failure to recover Sandy’s debt led to his family getting seriously hurt. He’s out for blood. “An eye for an eye.”
Is Cassian Pewe in series 6?
We’re not convinced we’ve heard the last from Cassian. The details about why he was working for Benchdale still seem very vague, and ripe for fleshing out.
For one thing, we need to know if he’s been doing them ‘favours’ for nearly 10 years, right from when Sandy vanished?
In which case, the anti-corruption squad who swooped into East Sussex Police offices to cart away all those case files might discover countless instances of historical corruption. We’re expecting more revelations from Cassian to come.
However, actor Sam Hoare is NOT listed as appearing in Grace series 6. Although his presence is still felt hanging over series 6. Several months on, the fallout from the Cassian Pewe debacle is still hanging over everybody, and the team is being investigated. Roy Grace is concerned about Cassian’s chilling warning – that Benchdale will be coming for Bruno.
A synopsis from ITV tells us: “Tensions are running high in East Sussex CID as, several months on from the arrest of ACC Cassian Pewe, Grace’s team is in the midst of an anti-corruption inquiry, while still reeling from the painful betrayal. As Grace wrestles with whether he can trust Cassian’s intel about Sandy’s murder and the threat to Bruno’s life, he decides to keep this all a secret from Cleo as they move towards planning their wedding and building a more stable foundation for Bruno at home.”
Who is DC Vee Wilde’s dad James Vernon?
A new ongoing mystery also reared its head in the final episode of series 5 – what’s going on with Vee’s dad?
DC Vee Wilde was the newest member of the team. A young firebrand, she was brought in to replace Norman Potting. Although she was quickly brought down to earth by DS Bella Moy, Moy subsequently became a mentor figure to her.
In episode 4, we learnt a little bit about Vee’s past. While the team was investigating a double murder in Ridgeton Park, a uniform cop called Dave Cripps recognised Vee. He said: “You’re James Vernon’s daughter, right? I served with him in the Met. Chapelwood nick.”
Clearly shaken, Vee told the guy she didn’t know what he was on about. My dad’s name is not James and he’s not a copper.
“Really? Those barbecues at his place in Kensal Rise, that wasn;t you?” Cripps replied.
Bella interrupted, saving Vee from further discomfort, but PC Cripps was obviously not convinced. Later, we saw Vee illicitly using Bella’s password to access digital police records above her pay grade. She searched for PC Cribbs and discovered that he was demoted down to a uniform cop following complaints about his conduct. James Vernon, meanwhile, was CID until being dismissed for gross misconduct.
Vee later admitted to Bella: “I’ve just found out that he was suspected of killing an informant.” She also said that he left when she was 16: “His drinking was off the charts so he said I’d be better off without him.”
And that seemed to be that. Until Vee’s phone buzzed at the end of the episode. It was an incoming call from her dad. Which she ignored. To be continued in series 6, you have to assume.
Grace on ITV series 5 recap: The investigation into Glenn’s wife
In Grace series 5, viewers learnt that Glenn’s wife Ari was under investigation. A nurse, she was suspected of negligence and causing the death of a patient at the hospital where she worked.
It was a fairly big deal for three episodes. And we were left with Glenn asking local journalist Sara Joshi for some help trying to see if there was anything fishy going on at the hospital. Then nothing in episode 4.
We’d be surprised if this storyline doesn’t resurface in series 6 after all that meticulous setting up.
Grace ITV series 5 recap: What happened with DC Nick Nicholl and his wife?
In Grace series 5, episode 3, DC Nick Nicholl was wrongly accused of being a dirty cop. Part of the reason why was a suspicious change in his behaviour.
But the reason he’d been acting out of character turned out to be the result of a breakdown in his marriage. He’d been living in a B&B for a few weeks. He was subsequently fully exonerated.
So were his personal problems just a handy red herring for the sake of the episode? Or will we learn more about whether he’ll ever get to see his kids again?
Dangling plot threads that didn’t get picked up in series 5
As we speculated in this article, we thought we might be seeing more of past villains Alvin Smallbone and Dr Crisp in series 5. They both featured in series 4, both remain at large, and both hinted heavily on screen that Grace may not have seen the last of them.
But they were conspicuous by their absence in series 5. So, could they be back in series 6? Stay tuned.
We’re also not convinced we’ve seen the last of Terry and Barbara Maxwell. It looked like he was using his solicitor voodoo to try to prevent her going to jail in the series 5 finale, so they could make a reappearance too.
Maybe Terry ends up representing Alvin in Grace series 6? Stranger things have happened.
What happened to Norman Potting in Grace?
Actor Craig Parkinson decided to leave the detective drama after four seasons. At the time, he said it was time to “hand in Norman Potting’s detective badge” to pursue other projects.
He wrote on his Instagram: “After a very happy few years I’ve made the decision to hand in Norman Potting’s detective badge. It’s been a wonderful experience taking this character from page to screen and updating him for a new audience.”
He continued: “There was a huge sense of responsibility in portraying such a character from Peter James’ much-loved book series. But, with a few tweaks here and there from our excellent script team and the support from Peter, I’m really glad that he resonated with the audience.”
Craig also said it had been a “wonderful journey playing Norman Potting”, and revealed he’d enjoyed “chasing around the streets of Brighton and dangling bad guys off Brighton Pier”.
At the end of season 4, Norman Potting told the team he’d been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He last appeared in the episode Love You Dead. The character did not appear in series 5, and he appears to have completely cut himself off from the team.
Since leaving Grace, actor Craig Parkinson has appeared in Alma’s Not Normal, Person of Interest, and Dirty Business.
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