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- 2023
- TV-MA
- BBC One
- 2023
- TV-MA
- BBC One
Summary The British police drama focuses on three probationary Northern Ireland police officers (Sian Brooke, Katherine Devlin and Nathan Braniff) in Belfast. [Premiered originally in the UK on BBC one on 27 Mar 2023 and in the US on BritBox on 17 Jan 2024]
Created By: Louise Gallagher, Stephen Wright
- 2023
- TV-MA
- BBC One
- 2023
- TV-MA
- BBC One
Blue Lights
Season 1 Premiere: Mar 17, 2023
83
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
Summary The British police drama focuses on three probationary Northern Ireland police officers (Sian Brooke, Katherine Devlin and Nathan Braniff) in Belfast. [Premiered originally in the UK on BBC one on 27 Mar 2023 and in the US on BritBox on 17 Jan 2024]
Created By: Louise Gallagher, Stephen Wright
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 11 Critic Reviews
83
82% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
18% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 11 Critic Reviews
83
82% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
18% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
One that skips effortlessly from comedy to breakneck drama, profundity to arguments about cake. When you have writers and a cast who can sustain that tension, you have must-see TV, both effective and affecting.
By the end, you will have a real fondness for these characters. Blue Lights won’t receive a fraction of the hype of Line of Duty, but there isn’t a duff line or an overcooked scene to be found here. The various storylines knit together into one satisfying conclusion.
It leaves so many tantalising threads just waiting to unravel. What’s real, and what is a setup? What counts as courage, and what is plain stupidity? By the end of the first episode, I’m engrossed.
By the time the credits roll, though, any Grace/Stevie shippers have been smacked around the head by a wisely observed reality check about what the pair’s relationship is really based on. In hard times, Blue Lights continues to skip deftly between light and dark.
This is a thoughtful, authentic and emotionally resonant new drama which justifies its existence straight out of the gate, despite my initial personal misgivings. It's just a shame about that title.
Sincerity and earnestness are potent storytelling tools when deployed correctly, and those qualities were front and centre here. At a time when every police show feels like an action movie on a shoestring, Blue Lights managed to stand out from the crowd.
The main weakness in all of this is that the police trainees are so useless that you don’t actually want them to succeed. .... What the writers, Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, do get very right is the sense of sheer exhausting frustration of policing a place where the usual challenges are overlaid with ethnic-national hatreds and the ever-present possibility of assassination.
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Production Company:
- BBC Studios
- Gallagher Films
- Two Cities Television Ltd.
Initial Release Date: Mar 17, 2023
Number of seasons: 2 Seasons
Rating: TV-MA
Awards
Irish Film and Television Awards
• 1 Win & 4 Nominations
TV Choice Awards UK
• 1 Nomination
Royal Television Society, UK
• 1 Nomination
