A man’s husband has died from terminal cancer. His pain medication is missing. It quickly becomes clear to the attending officers that this grieving man is responsible. Their faces are a mixture of empathy and trepidation,as they realise the letter of the law means they have to bring him in.
Stevie Neil (Martin McCann) and Grace Ellis (Siân Brooke) are frontline police in Belfast inBlue Lights.Supplied
No guns are drawn,and the man’s rights are reluctantly read. This nuanced,complex approach to the idea of police work is precisely what makesBlue Lights,now in its second season and with a third and fourth already commissioned,one of the most compelling police dramas in recent years.
You like Line of Duty but wish the characters were a little more well drawn in their personal lives?Blue Lights is for you.
Like the comfort of British and Irish crime shows,but want a little more social realism?Blue Lights is for you.
Like the will-they-won’t-they romance of Rachel and Ross,Tim and Dawn,David and Maddie?Blue Lightsis,believe it or not,for you.
Stevie Neil (Martin McCann),Grace Ellis (Siân Brooke),Annie Conlon (Katherine Devlin) and Tommy Foster (Nathan Braniff) inBlue Lights.Supplied
WhenBlue Lights,co-written and created by Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson,made its debut in 2023,it earned widespread praise for its specific take on the tried-and-true police drama. Instead of seasoned,hardened and infallible cops,we were introduced to three rookies fumbling their way through their first few months of policing in post-conflict Northern Ireland.
Tommy (Nathan Braniff) is sweet and naive and can’t shoot straight,Annie (Katherine Devlin) is a natural-born rebel with an impulsive streak that gets her into trouble more often than not,and Grace (Trying andSherlock’s Sian Brooke) is a 41-year-old single mum in the middle of a career change from social work. She wants to help people more than people want her help.
The first season laid the groundwork for the show’s social and political complexity. Why would anyone want to join the police in Belfast where,for some,sectarian divides and criminal gangs are a daily presence? This is a community where something as innocuous as a parade could spark intense violence and the police need to be aware of the past as well as the present.
The current second season,which takes place a year into the job,builds on that foundation like all good sophomore seasons should:digging deeper into that context and fleshing out both the main characters’ depth and the extended cast’s breadth. There’s a little less time spent on policing procedures and a little more soapiness.
It might be a police drama with big themes,but it’s still a police drama – one not lacking in car chases,kneecappings and bomb threats,written and directed to maximise the white-knuckle tension of frontline policing in a powder-keg community.
Police officer Annie Conlon,played by Katherine Devlin,has a rebellious streak inBlue Lights.Supplied
But theBlue Lights scenes that stay with you are the quiet moments of connection in between. Tommy learning the ropes – and Johnny Cash tunes– from Gerry (Game of Thrones′ Richard Dormer),his older,wiser mentor;patrol partners Grace and Stevie (Martin McCann,The Fall) killing time in the car,taking turns picking songs and sharing lunch. The characters are so well drawn that when they’re thrust into any sort of tension,you want them – no,you need them – to be OK.
As drama,it’s utterly arresting. Even when its heroes would rather do anything but.
Blue Lights in on SBS,Thursday,9.45pm andSBS On Demand (all episodes).
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