Blue Lights

Hope Street brings cosy crime to Northern Ireland

The coppers of Hope Street stand next to a lighthouse on the coast of Donaghadee in Northern Ireland

Over the past decade, Northern Ireland has emerged as the setting of choice for hard-hitting cop shows and gritty crime dramas. Its grey skies, beautifully bleak landscapes and violent history combined to create a distinct sense of place and a noirish backdrop for series such as The Fall, Bloodlands, Marcella and, more recently, Blue Lights

BBC releases first-look pictures for psychological thriller Dead and Buried

Annabel Scholey and Colin Morgan sit opposite each other at a table in a cafe

Cathy’s (Scholey) life is turned upside down when she spots Michael (Morgan) outside a supermarket. 20 years ago, Michael was convicted for the murder of Cathy’s brother. Now out of prison on early release, Michael has managed to start a family and build a successful career, to Cathy’s horror.

The makers of Blue Lights on the light and shade of their Belfast police drama

Martin McCann (Stevie), Siân Brooke (Grace), Katherine Devlin (Annie) and Nathan Braniff (Tommy) sit and stand around a desk in police uniform in a police office

A year after Blue Lights launched to five-star reviews, Belfast’s rookie cops are back out on patrol in Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn’s wonderfully human BBC One drama.

Second time around, the police officers are less green and more frazzled, but still trying to keep the peace in a city flooded with cheap drugs peddled by paramilitary gunmen turned gangsters.

Tom Wrathmell: Our Friend Across The Regions

Tom Wrathmell poses in front of the camera

Over the past year or so I’m sure many of you reading this have enjoyed the likes of Blue Lights, The Responder, Happy Valley and The Way. All huge BBC dramas. They have something else in common – they’re rooted in towns and cities across the UK.

This is no accident. In March 2021, we laid out our “Across the UK” blueprint for the BBC’s biggest transformation in decades, designed to move more of our programming and decision-making across the UK. The goal: to bring us closer to our audiences.

Blue Lights renewed for two more instalments ahead of series two broadcast

Three police officers stand in front of a grey background. Superimposed below them is a cityscape, with blue flares of light

The show follows three new recruits to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). For Grace, Annie and Tommy, every day is different, and none are easy. The first series followed them on their probation period as they got to grips with the job, including dealing with the criminal McIntyre gang.