TV Pick of the Week: Blue Lights - review by Yvette Huddleston
Blue Lights BBC iPlayer, review by Yvette Huddleston
The fourth series of the Belfast-set police drama delivers another season of complex, intelligent and thought-provoking storylines. Written by former journalists Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, who both grew up in Northern Ireland and met while working on the BBC flagship current affairs programme Panorama. As writers they bring a journalistic attention to detail combined with the real emotional heft of lived experience. The series follows the working lives of the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) officers at the fictional Blackthorn police station.
The characters we met as new recruits in the first series - fortysomething former social worker Grace (Siân Brooke) who is English but has lived in Belfast for many years, fast-track graduate keen Tommy (Nathan Braniff) and tough-talking streetwise local Annie (Katherine Devlin) - are now well-versed in in what the job entails. They have had the edges rubbed off them and are dealing with it in different ways. Grace, who is now in a romantic relationship with experienced sergeant Stevie (Martin McCann), has passed her detective exams and is looking forward to starting a new post in CID, while Tommy and Annie have become somewhat disillusioned, Tommy in particular. He feels that it is almost impossible to make a real difference.
The new series opens with the team facing a high-pressure situation. They are guarding a refugee and asylum seeker centre where a family day celebration is taking place and which comes under attack from a group of anti-immigrant protestors. The protest begins peacefully enough, but then suddenly takes a dark turn when a group of masked men join the crowd intent on inciting violence. And it is all being filmed by racist young social media influencer Katie (Tabitha Smyth).
The script skilfully links that storyline with the background narrative running throughout all the previous series - trying to get evidence against the powerful McIntyre crime family, headed up by steely Tina (Abigail McGibbon), who seem untouchable. The reasons why are complicated and rooted deep in the difficult decisions and compromises made by older police colleagues during the height of the Troubles. In unpicking it all, many secrets and lies are painstakingly unearthed, mostly by grieving custody sergeant Sandra (Andi Osho), veteran cop Gerry (Richard Dormer) who was shot at close range in the first series. Here we get a lovely, extremely moving, extended flashback to how the couple met. This is top-quality drama that tackles pressing issues with heart and humanity.