Shadow force

Hard-hitting police drama Blue Lights is back on the streets of Belfast

- WORDS: SEAN MARLAND

NEW CRIME DRAMA

Blue Lights

Monday, 9pm, BBC1 (box set, BBC iPlayer)

Writers Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson sit in a small meeting room on the first floor of (fictional) Blackthorn Police Station and consider the incredible journey they've been on over the past couple of years.

Since Blue Lights first appeared on our screens in 2023, the creators have seen the Belfast-based cop show become one of BBC1’s most popular dramas, picking up a BAFTA for Best Drama Series earlier this year.

Following that success, Season 3 is set to be one of this autumn’s most unmissable TV events, so when TV&Satellite Week was invited on set to watch filming, we jumped at the chance.

'Winning the BAFTA was such an overwhelming moment,' says Lawn. 'I hadn't anticipated that kind of recognition. Blue Lights is quite different, so I thought it would take a bit longer for people to work out what it's all about.'

MIDDLE-CLASS CRIME