Blue Lights is a crime series with the quality you would expect from the BBC. The BBC is the purveyor of strong crime series and Blue Lights is no exception. This series follows Grace (Sian Brooke, Trying), Annie (Katherine Devlin) and Tommy (Nathan Braniff), three police trainees who work on a desk in Belfast. Although The Troubles, the conflicts between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, are long over, tensions between different population groups are still palpable. This also becomes clear to Grace, Annie and Tommy when the gang of criminal James McIntyre (John Lynch, The Fall) suddenly starts to become active in the city and secret agents from London show up everywhere.
Blue Lights starts slowly, but gets more and more exciting later in the season
In my review of the first episode, I was quite positive about Blue Lights. The preconditions for a beautiful product were present and I saw the potential for the series to grow into a very good series during the season. And as far as I'm concerned, it succeeded. Like a diesel train, the series starts off quite calmly, but as the story progresses, the tension and pace steadily increase. In addition, viewers are treated to an unexpected portion of emotion at the right moments.
In addition, the three protagonists do a very creditable job, with Sian Brooke at the top. The other agents on the station are also played by competent actors. Martin McCann (Marcella) plays Grace's police partner Stevie very well and the two have a wonderful interaction on screen. As always, it's a pleasure to see John Lynch on screen and hear his wonderfully distinctive voice. My big favorite is Tommy's partner Gerry (Richard Dormer, The Watch), a wonderfully sarcastic man who sees potential in Tommy and convincingly takes on a kind of father role.
If you're making a series set in Northern Ireland, it's almost an obligatory number to also do something with The Troubles. This series also likes to do that, although the link is not as obvious as in Bloodlands or Derry Girls, for example. It is sometimes difficult to imagine that a horrific battle took place in Western Europe very recently. However, Blue Lights finds an appropriate way to remind the viewer of the aftermath of this conflict. This gives the series a wonderfully raw edge.
Blue Lights combines tension and topicality in a fantastic way
Blue Lights also responds nicely to more current themes, such as whether people have confidence in the authorities and how officers themselves view the power of the police apparatus. This trust is low, and that becomes clear at a few crucial moments. In such scenes, the series succeeds in seamlessly intertwining tension, topicality and strong acting.
The first season of Blue Lights shows quality television as we can expect from the BBC, with good actors, a lot of tension, topical themes and a strong storyline. It is therefore not surprising that the BBC has already ordered a second season. I myself saw this series on BBC One.
I completely agree, it started off quietly but is becoming more and more exciting. I'm following it on BBC First, so the series isn't over yet. But I'm curious about the ending. As far as I'm concerned, a sequel to this.
