Blue Lights review: Tense, nervous headache? That'll be this edge-of-the-seat new police drama
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Another police drama, you might think, who needs another one of those?
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Hide AdAnd 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”.
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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Hide AdAs 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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Hide AdBlue Lights may look like just another cop show, but it’s a cut above – just make sure you practice your breathing.
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