‘It will be explosive, moving and authentic’
◆ As acclaimed Belfast police drama Blue Lights returns to BBC One, Rachael Davis hears from stars Sian Brooke, Katherine Devlin and Nathan Braniff
When Blue Lights debuted last year it was obvious it was not your typical police show. Set in Belfast, the drama follows three new recruits to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) – youngsters Annie and Tommy and fortysomething former social worker Grace. It took stock of the incredibly tough world of policing in Belfast, a city still living in the shadow of the Troubles and with communities divided by sectarianism. Add in complex character drama and thrilling action scenes and we had one of the most exciting shows of the year.
The response was such that when Series Two began filming in Belfast last year, the sights of camera crews and police uniforms throughout the city caused quite a fuss, with excited crowds gathering to see the cast at work. “Everywhere we went, we definitely had a warm welcome, it was great,” says Nathan Braniff, who plays Tommy Foster.
“It was nice, this time, having people coming up and being so positive.”
As Blue Lights returns for its highly anticipated second series, having already been renewed for a further two, so does its cast of breakout stars and familiar faces. Back are, among others, Sherlock’s Sian Brooke, who plays Grace; Katherine Devlin as Annie Conlon, a Catholic probationer; and Braniff as Tommy Foster, a fast-track recruit.
“Now we know who these characters are, we dig deeper into their lives and understand why they react in certain situations,” teases Brooke. “The world that [writers] Declan [Lawn] and Adam [Patterson] have created has expanded even more and you begin to understand the complexities of the crimes the characters are encountering in their dayto-day jobs. We also see the ripple effect of what happened in the first series on all of the characters, and how it impacts them as a unit.”
Each of the protagonists are facing new challenges, trying to strike a balance between their work and personal lives.
“A year has passed, so she’s no longer a recruit,” says Brooke of where we meet Grace in this series. “She’s much more experienced in the job, but her home life has turned upside down.
“We see her whole foundation has been rocked by not having [son] Cal at home with her anymore – she is a little at sea, and I like the fact that we portray empty nest syndrome... I don’t think it’s explored enough on television, but it’s a tangible thing that happens to parents, and they go through a grieving process of sorts.”
Devlin adds: “This time round we find Annie sharing a flat with Grace. Theirs is quite a sisterly relationship, but equally, they’re aware of each other’s insecurities and flaws. Grace has been there for Annie in the past, and Annie definitely shows her vulnerabilities when she’s with Grace.
“They make a good team, and while the death threat is still present in Annie’s life we do see her unfold a bit more and be less constrained – she definitely has more freedom.”
Tommy is still reeling from the events of series one, Braniff says, but we see him developing as an officer. “I mean, he’s definitely changed,” says Braniff. “He’s had to grow up a little, pull up his socks. Tommy went through something super difficult at the end of the first series, and that’s had a massive effect on him, and that effect will stay with him for the rest of his policing career. It showed him how savage, in a way, this job can be, how difficult it can be. I think you see a much more mature Tommy, but again, we haven’t lost those little things about Tommy that make him him.”
This second series will, Brooke says, bring some high stakes action for the constables. Grace gets caught up in a “serious incident” says Brookes, one which “involves her pulling out her gun”, which led the actress to spend time with a police adviser to understand what that does to you as a police officer and as a human being.
The way in which Blue Lights tackles the reality of police work in Belfast is part of what made the first series so acclaimed. It’s also something that its cast, many of whom are Northern Irish, appreciate. “The policing job in Northern Ireland is especially difficult, having gone through what they’ve gone through in the past 30 or 45 years,” Braniff says. “They have an incredibly difficult job, and you want to pay respect to that... you’re sort of carrying the flag, almost, a little bit, for the PSNI. To make sure that I was doing that appropriately, it just meant doing lots and lots of research again, for the second series, spending some time with police officers. We actually even did a little police boot camp for the readthrough of this second series.”
“There’s no doubt that Northern Ireland police have a very specific job, because of where they’re operating. Unlike the other sort of day-to-day police in the rest of the UK, they have to carry a sidearm. We’re trying to put the spotlight on the police of Northern Ireland, you know, because they deserve it. They do a great job.”
It is this “authenticity at the heart of the show” that makes it so gripping, Devlin agrees. “We see time and time again when a show is unapologetic and real, audiences really engage with it,” she says. “It’s a drama with really beautifully crafted characters at its heart, and it doesn’t spoon-feed the audience, which is so important.it will be quite explosive, moving and an authentic reflection of some parts of present-day Belfast,” Brooke adds. “But audiences can still expect those comedy beats alongside the serious side of the story.”
It’s a drama with really beautifully crafted characters at its heart, and it doesn’t spoonfeed the audience, which is so important
Blue Lights is on BBC One at 9pm on Monday 15 April