Filming has begun in Belfast on Blue Lights, a six-part original drama for BBC One and BBC iPlayer, from the writers of The Salisbury Poisonings.
Created and written by Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson and directed by Gilles Bannier (Trigger Point, Tin Star, Spiral), Blue Lights follows three rookie police officers working in Belfast. It is made by Two Cities Television and produced with support from Northern Ireland Screen as part of their continued partnership with the BBC.
Siân Brooke (Sherlock, Good Omens), Martin McCann (Marcella, Sentinel), Richard Dormer (Game of Thrones, Fortitude), Katherine Devlin (The Dig, Vikings) and newcomer Nathan Braniff will lead the cast alongside John Lynch (Tin Star, The Fall), Jonathan Harden (Time, Unforgotten) and Valene Kane (The Fall, Gangs of London).
Grace (Siân Brooke), a mother of a teenage boy, has made the decision in her 40’s to leave her steady job as a social worker to join the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Her fellow rookies are Annie (Katherine Devlin), who struggles with the fact that her chosen path may mean having to leave everything she’s ever known behind, and Tommy (Nathan Braniff), who is desperate to prove himself, despite being disastrously inept at the practical side of frontline response policing.
All three are new police officers in their probation period with the PSNI, the odds are at least one of them isn’t going to last.
Tommy Bulfin, BBC Drama commissioning editor, says: “Blue Lights explores a fascinating area we haven’t often seen before on TV and in a way that feels truly authentic. Declan and Adam have written it with such wit and heart that you instantly feel like you know our three rookies intimately.”
Filming is taking place in Belfast and the surrounding areas. It is produced by Carol Moorhead (The Fall, Doing Money). Fran Harris has written episode three and co-written episode four. Executive Producers are Stephen Wright for Two Cities Television, Louise Gallagher for Gallagher Films, Tommy Bulfin for the BBC and Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson. Two Cities is part of the STV Studios group of production labels. Blue Lights was commissioned by Piers Wenger, Director of BBC Drama and Charlotte Moore, BBC Chief Content Officer. Blue Lights is distributed internationally by BBC Studios.
The partnership between the BBC and Northern Ireland Screen continues to support the screen industry in Northern Ireland and help ensure that content filmed and set in Northern Ireland is brought to audiences across the UK and internationally.
Pippa Considine
Share this story
