Very Different People

Episode One of the new series of ‘Blue Lights’ last week ended on a bit of a cliffhanger.

But before we dive into that, another quick reminder of the ground rules for these reviews.

We would urge those commenting on this post who have already binge watched Series Four, not to give away any spoilers about future episodes.

Focus instead on this episode and the one that preceded it, as we’re reviewing each instalment as it airs each week on BBC1.

And if you haven’t seen previous series of ‘Blue Lights,’ maybe watch them before reading this review as it will reference previous plot points.

(SPOILER ALERT!!!)

Last week’s opening episode of Series Four ended with Constable Grace Ellis pointing her gun at the front door of a Syrian refugee’s house in the loyalist Matchhill area, as a mob tried to force their way inside.

Outside on the street a petrol bomb was lit.

Shots rang out before the credits rolled but it wasn’t clear if Grace had fired them.

Episode Two began with Constables Shane Bradley and Tommy Foster driving to the sound of Johnny Cash‘s jaw dropping but sombre cover of Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Hurt’.

It was all a bit too downbeat for Shane who suggested Tommy could maybe lighten the mood with a more upbeat choice on their patrol car playlist.

Before he could do anything about it, the duo were called to the house of Syrian refugee Amira Saeed to provide back up to Grace and Constable Annie Conlon.

They arrived just as the mob tried to force their way into the house and the petrol bomb was being lit.

Director Angela Griffin cut to Grace inside yelling “Gun! Gun! Gun!” before the shots heard in Episode One rang out.

As her colleague Annie Conlon rushed inside, Grace confirmed it wasn’t her.

Cut to outside the house where Griffin revealed it was Tommy who discharged his weapon into the air, causing the mob to skedaddle.

Elsewhere, dissident republican turned drug trafficker Tina McIntyre was using a dating app to contact her new partner in crime, former soldier Lee Thompson.

Lee rounded up a squad of five men who had been drilled with military precision on their roles in a drug smuggling operation involving a tour bus and gear from Dublin.

In the aftermath of the attack on Amira’s home, Annie joined her in hospital and outlined the police’s plans to move the refugee to secure, shared accommodation.

While waiting on Annie, Grace spotted the vlogger from Episode One, Katie Close with her arm in a sling and decided to engage her in conversation.

Katie immediately reached for her phone to film the encounter and was about as receptive to a chat as a Millwall fan asked to sing ‘I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles’.

Back in Blackthorn, Tommy was preparing to face ‘Blue Lights’ resident Police Ombudsman investigator Geraldine Gilroy.

Luckily Tommy had a Police Federation rep to fight his corner in the shape of Sergeant Lawrence McCloskey.

However Lawrence’s efforts to shut down the interrogation were ignored by Tommy who managed to defuse any action against him by telling the investigator that if he hadn’t fired his gun in the air, he would have been facing questions from her about why he didn’t prevent a petrol bomb being chucked into Amira’s home.

When Geraldine Gilroy left agreeing his action was proportionate, Sergeant McCloskey proudly observed: “Well we showed her. Didn’t we?”

Tommy’s sullen demeanour concerned his former girlfriend, Constable Aisling Byrne who decided to have a word with Sergeant Sandra Cliff.

With Blackthorn facing the prospect of closure, Inspector Helen McNally used another meeting with her boss Chief Superintendent Nicola Robinson to again voice her opposition to it.

Chief Superintendent Robinson noted Helen had called “an all hands briefing” of her officers to outline a strategy to dramatically improve Blackthorn’s crime statistics.

“It’s not going to work, Helen,” she warned her.

“You will work them to the bone and they will hate you for it.”

Revealing she had made many personal sacrifices for the sake of her career, the Chief Superintendent observed both of them were “very different people”.

During the briefing Blackthorn’s officers were sceptical as Acting Sergeant Stevie Neil and Sergeant Sandra Cliff outlined Helen’s strategy.

From now on they would have to get the basics right – driving up the statistics on catching drunk drivers, drug possessions and dealing with assaults.

With Shane asking if Blackthorn’s officers would have to “look for bald tyres now,” Helen played her trump card, referencing Gerry Cliff‘s saying that “sharp eyes save lives”.

Minor drug busts, she observed, could help colleagues understand how drug gangs operate and help inform the strategy to disrupt their activities.

Tackling assaults and violent offenders would make Belfast’s streets safer.

Checkpoints to address bald tyres could uncover other criminal activity.

Even addressing a broken tail light on a tour bus, Shane would later discover, could yield surprising intelligence.

Episode Two continued the fine vein of form from last week’s opening episode, with director Angela Griffin and this week’s screenwriter Noel McCann doing a pretty solid job.

The travails of Tina McIntyre’s son Mo were more to the fore as he went on a bender instead of keeping a low profile at home, telling all and sundry his parents were touts.

At this stage, it’s looking like Mo will either come a cropper or he’ll drive a major wedge between Tina and her new partner in crime, Lee Thompson who made a welcome return to the show.

‘Blue Lights’ creators Declan Lawn and Adam Paterson have, along with this week’s writer Noel McCann, teed up the anti immigration storyline and the issue of thin police resources pretty well.

It will be fascinating to see how they develop the issue of social media rage baiting.

As for the performances, series regulars Nathan Braniff, Sian Brooke, Martin McCann, Katherine Devlin, Joanne McNally, Andi Osho, Andrea Irvine, Neil Keery and Dearbhaile McKinney were dependably good.

While Leem Lubany did not get to chew much scenery as Amira, Abigail McGibbon continued to impress as Tina McIntyre.

Michael Shea relished being a bit of a wild card as Tina’s disillusioned son Mo and had some pretty decent scenes including one in a republican drinking den where he ran into a former comrade of his father’s, Patrick McBrearty’s John O’Boyle who in Season Three suffered the tragic loss of his son in a road accident.

It was good to see Seamus O’Hara back as Lee but we have yet to see if Tabitha Smyth can really get under the skin of the vlogger Katie Close who at this stage feels a bit one dimensional.

Michael Smiley arguably stole the show with the biggest laugh of the episode when his surveillance cop Colly decided to examine Shane’s head for requesting an intelligence briefing on a stairwell.

Two episodes in, Series Four is certainly looking promising.

New themes and long standing storylines have been fused effectively.

Hopefully Lawn and Patterson can maintain the momentum.

(Series Four, Episode Two of ‘Blue Lights’ was broadcast on BBC1 on October 6, 2026 with all episodes available on the BBC iPlayer)