The fifth season of ITV’s popular crime drama Grace has officially premiered, bringing John Simm‘s Detective Superintendent Roy Grace back to screens with four new complex cases. The season, which first aired in the UK in April 2025, has recently become available for international audiences. It continues to adapt stories from Peter James’s bestselling novels, mixing intense police investigations with deep personal challenges for its main character.
This new chapter arrives after the major personal revelations of Season 4. Roy Grace is now navigating life as a father to his previously unknown son, Bruno, while he and his fiancée, Cleo Morey, cope with a significant personal loss. The show balances these emotional storylines with gripping mysteries involving bomb threats, kidnappings, and intricate murders set against the backdrop of Brighton.
Grace Season 5 Release Date and Streaming Guide
For viewers in the United Kingdom, Grace Season 5 made its debut on ITV1 on Sunday, April 6, 2025. All four feature-length episodes were released at once on the ITVX streaming service on the same day, allowing fans to watch the entire season immediately. Previous seasons are also available to stream on ITVX.
International audiences gained access to the season more recently. In the United States, Canada, and Australia, Season 5 began streaming on BritBox in February 2026. The episodes are available through the BritBox Amazon Channel, where they can be watched with a subscription.
The season consists of four episodes, each with a runtime of approximately 88 to 90 minutes. The episodes air weekly on BritBox, following the platform’s typical release pattern for new series.
Returning Cast and New Faces in Season 5
The core team from Brighton’s Major Crime Branch returns, led by John Simm as the dedicated yet troubled Detective Superintendent Roy Grace. His close friend and professional partner, DS Glenn Branson, is once again played by Richie Campbell. The supporting cast includes Laura Elphinstone as the sharp DS Bella Moy and Brad Morrison as DC Nick Nicholl. Zoë Tapper returns as Cleo Morey, the senior pathology technician and Grace’s fiancée, whose role takes on new emotional depth this season.
Sam Hoare continues as Grace’s superior, the often antagonistic ACC Cassian Pewe, whose secret connection to Grace’s late wife, Sandy, remains a point of tension. Notably absent is Craig Parkinson, who played the beloved, old-school detective Norman Potting. Parkinson announced his departure from the show prior to Season 4, and his character’s exit is addressed in the new season.
A new addition to the cast is Juliette Motamed, who joins as DS Vee Wilde. Described as headstrong, her character is introduced in the second episode and brings fresh dynamics to the investigative team.
Breaking Down the Four New Cases
Each episode of Season 5 is a self-contained story adapted from a Peter James novel.
The season opens with “Dead If You Don’t.” The story involves a frantic bomb threat at a Brighton football stadium on match day, which Grace and his son Bruno happen to be attending. This crisis intertwines with a botched kidnapping plot targeting a wealthy football club shareholder. One review notes the episode expertly manages multiple parallel mysteries, including a body found on the beach, without confusing the audience.
The second episode, “Dead at First Sight,” sees Grace investigating the mysterious death of a businessman in a Brighton hotel. The case expands into a complex web of online identity theft and romantic scams that have tragic, real-world consequences.
In “Need You Dead,” the murder of a psychiatrist and popular mental health app creator sends the team searching for a motive among several suspects. The case pushes Grace to question his own investigative instincts.
The season concludes with “Find Them Dead.” Grace returns to Brighton after a secondment to London’s Met Police and immediately faces two major challenges. He must uncover a plot to rig the trial of a notorious drug baron, while his team investigates a brutal double murder in a local park. The episode ends on a significant cliffhanger that sets the stage for the already-confirmed sixth season.
Major Personal Storylines for Roy Grace and Cleo
Season 5 places a strong emphasis on the characters’ personal lives, particularly the aftermath of events from the previous season. The series begins with a heartbreaking development: Grace and Cleo have lost their unborn child. This loss casts a shadow over their relationship as they grieve.
“We certainly see the aftermath and the deep, profound sense of loss and shock that they face,” says actress Zoë Tapper about her character Cleo’s journey.
Complicating this grief is the arrival of Bruno, the teenage son Grace only recently discovered he had with his missing wife, Sandy. Grace is now trying to build a relationship with Bruno, who is living with Sandy’s parents. This creates a complex family dynamic, especially for Cleo, who must suddenly share her partner’s life with a child who is not her own.
John Simm, who plays Grace, acknowledges that constant conflict is necessary for drama. “You’ve got to have some kind of conflict otherwise it’s all too happy,” he said. These intertwined stories of loss and new responsibility provide a rich emotional layer to the season’s criminal investigations.
The Future of the Series
Even as Season 5 unfolds for viewers, the future of Grace is already secure. ITV has officially commissioned Season 6. Filming for the next season is reportedly already underway in Brighton and is scheduled to continue through 2026. Executive producer Phil Hunter expressed enthusiasm about the continuation, stating, “Having just delivered series five, it’s fantastic to know we are coming back for a sixth series”.
The show continues to be a staple of British crime television, praised for its faithful yet adaptive approach to Peter James’s novels and the strong performances of its cast.
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