Blue Lights review: Tense, nervous headache? That'll be this edge-of-the-seat new police drama

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​There are moments in the new BBC police drama Blue Lights (BBC1, Mon, 9pm) when you suddenly realise you’ve been holding your breath for the last few minutes.

​Another police drama, you might think, who needs another one of those?

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And yes, there are some stereotypes on show here: the one police officer who will do anything to stay out off the beat an in a nice, warm office; the idealistic but bumbling young lad; the grizzled veteran copper whose rhino-thick skin covers a heart of gold.

And, like Line of Duty, Blue Lights sprinkles its dialogue with authentic-sounding jargon like ‘nominals’, ‘OOBs’ ‘sneaky-beakies’ and “I’m thinking Det, maybe Box”.

Annie (Katherine Devlin) and Jen (Hannah McClean) are two of the young coppers in the BBC's new police drama Blue LightsAnnie (Katherine Devlin) and Jen (Hannah McClean) are two of the young coppers in the BBC's new police drama Blue Lights
Annie (Katherine Devlin) and Jen (Hannah McClean) are two of the young coppers in the BBC's new police drama Blue Lights

But it really leans into its Belfast setting, a place we on this side of the Irish Sea either forget about until someone mentions ‘hard borders’, or still have a vision of as a place of terror attacks and balaclavas.

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As it turns out, it’s more like the Wild West, with the officers of Blue Lights the deputies struggling to maintain some semblance of law and order.

Everyone is looking over their shoulder in some way – the police for car bombs or ambushes, ‘civilians’ for the threat of the local criminal gangs, who have co-opted the paramilitary punishment techniques to keep people in line.

It’s that constant threat – it’s no wonder episode three is called The Fear – that permeates everything and keeps you holding your breath. And it would be no surprise if one of our officers didn’t make it out alive.

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Police officer Stevie Neil (Martin McCann) has a crisis to deal with in the new BBC1 police drama Blue LightsPolice officer Stevie Neil (Martin McCann) has a crisis to deal with in the new BBC1 police drama Blue Lights
Police officer Stevie Neil (Martin McCann) has a crisis to deal with in the new BBC1 police drama Blue Lights

Blue Lights may look like just another cop show, but it’s a cut above – just make sure you practice your breathing.

I’d read Great Expectations (BBC1, Sun, 9pm) ages ago, but the negative reaction to the new BBC adaptation by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight rather surprised me. A grimy, murky affair, this Dickens was all about getting up and getting out of poverty. As such, it didn’t hang about and was an unexpectedly good watch.

The star turns of Celebrity Hunted (Channel 4, Tues, 9pm) were undoubtedly comedians Ed Gamble and James Acaster. While their fellow E-list escapees in this charity jailbreak frantically fled the ‘hunters’, celebrity cellmates Ed and James found somewhere nice to have dinner.

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