We lean into the cost of being a police officer

BLUE LIGHTS CO-CREATOR DECLAN LAWN JOINS ACTORS SIAN BROOKE, KATHERINE DEVLIN AND NATHAN BRANIFF TO DISCUSS SEASON THREE OF THE BELFAST POLICE DRAMA. BY LYNN RUSK

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IT’S been two and a half years since Blue Lights, the Belfast police drama following newly qualified officers navigating law and order in post-conflict Northern Ireland, first hit our screens.

Fresh from winning Best Drama at this year’s Bafta TV Awards, the creators hope series three will continue to captivate audiences as the story delves deeper into organised crime in Belfast.

Season three sees recruits Grace Ellis, played by Sian Brooke, Annie Conlon, portrayed by Katherine Devlin and Tommy Foster, played by Nathan Braniff near the end of their probation, each beginning to question their place in the police.

The series also explores how an expanding criminal conspiracy impacts frontline policing. The team is forced to confront drug dealing and child abuse, as well as the hidden white-collar crime that enables them.

Co-creator Declan Lawn describes the show's positive reception as both “gratifying” and “a relief”.

Belfast-born Declan, 49, co-wrote the series with Adam Patterson, with whom he also created the factual drama The Salisbury Poisonings.

“Making a contemporary TV show set in your own backyard carries with it certain risks and responsibilities, but so far, the response in Northern Ireland has been very positive,” explains Declan.

“Hopefully that’s because our love for Belfast comes across in Blue Lights, even though we all know that as a city it is a flawed diamond that is still in many ways coming to terms with its own history.”