How you could compose Virdee soundtrack with Hans Zimmer

The talented composer behind soundtracks like Interstellar, The Gladiator and Inception is working alongside Bradford author AA Dhand.

The pharmacist-turned-author is bringing his popular crime book series Virdee to life for BBC One.

Now one lucky candidate is wanted to shape Virdee’s soundtrack alongside Zimmer himself and LA-based Bleeding Fingers.

The one-of-a-kind opportunity will see the chosen composer learn from Screen Academy Bradford and enjoy a one-week placement in Los Angeles.

Zimmer said: “I cannot wait to see what new talent Screen Academy Bradford's Composer Programme uncovers and what they might bring to help shape the sound of Virdee with the Bleeding team.”

Photo issued by Sony Classical of Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer (Image: Contributed)

The Bleeding Fingers composer team is offering hands-on experience in composing for visual media.

Dhand said: “This is an incredible opportunity for the right emerging musical talent to make a profound mark in the industry and gain invaluable experience working with arguably one of the world’s greatest living composers."

Applications are open to anyone who was born, raised or currently lives in the Bradford area and surrounding four Yorkshire counties, has a passion for film and television, and possesses original musical ideas that can breathe life into the series' soundtrack.

Applicants will need to enter a short recording, up to one minute, by midnight on Sunday, December 10, 2023.

AA Dhand, pictured (Image: Submitted)

The successful applicants will be announced by December 15.

The initial part of the placement, including participation in the Screen Academy Bradford boot camp, starts in January 2024.

It is designed to pave the way for a new generation of media composers, regardless of their background or circumstances.

The BBC announced it commissioned Virdee as a six-part drama series this August.

Dhand was raised in Bradford and spent his youth observing the city and its different communities from behind the counter of a small convenience store. 

Screen Academy Bradford will help to shape the next generation of TV talent (Image: Screen Academy Bradford)

After qualifying as a pharmacist, he worked in London and travelled extensively before returning to Bradford, where he started his own pharmacy business. 

He wrote the Virdee series whilst running the pharmacy.

He has since stepped away from pharmacy to become a full-time writer.

The plot 

The plot of Virdee follows Detective Harry Virdee, who was disowned by his Sikh family for marrying Saima, who is Muslim. 

Sacha Dhawan - who appeared in Doctor Who, The Great, Wolf - will play Bradford cop, Detective Harry Virdee (Image: David Reiss)

Sacha Dhawan - who appeared in Doctor Who, The Great, Wolf - will play the Bradford cop. 

Virdee struggles with the abandonment, constantly attempting to reunite with his family. With his personal life in chaos, he must hunt down a killer targeting the Asian community.

When the murderer kidnaps a local MP’s daughter in Bradford and holds the entire city to ransom, Harry realises that he is going to need the help of his brother-in-law Riaz, a drugs kingpin who runs the largest cartel in the county.

Pulled together in an alliance that could ruin them both, Harry must make a choice: save himself and his family or save his city. He will not be able to do both.