Dan McGinn 
And so to the final episode of Series Three. But just for old time’s sake, let’s have one last warning that this post may contain spoilers about this and other episodes. Now we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get down to business. Buoyed by the fact that last week’s episode appeared to have got the third series back on track, could Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn’s show deliver the thrilling conclusion that we were all hoping for? (SPOLIERS …
After a dip in form over the past two weeks, could Series 3 of ‘Blue Lights’ get back on track in the final stretch? Before we find out, here’s another public service announcement for Slugger readers. This review will inevitably contain spoilers for this episode and others, so if you haven’t watched Series 1, 2 or 3 or even Series 3 Episode 5, then maybe hold off reading this. (SPOILERS ALERT!!!) Episode Five began with Katherine Devlin’s Annie Conlon heading …
We’re two thirds of the way into Series Three and as with previous reviews, there will inevitably be spoilers about this and other episodes. So if you haven’t watched Episode Four of Series Three, take my advice. Wait until you have watched it before reading any more of this. As for the rest of you, buckle up. Its going to be a bumpy ride. (SPOILERS ALERT!!) Episode Four began in sugar sweet fashion, with writers Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson …
Heading towards the halfway point in the third series, the question some ‘Blue Lights’ viewers have been asking was: could it maintain its strong start? Before we try to answer that, I’ll again warn readers that, as with previous reviews of episodes of ‘Blue Lights,’ this post will inevitably contain spoilers about previous episodes and this one. So if you haven’t watched Episode Three or haven’t even started Series Three, please look away now. (SPOILER ALERT!!!) After discovering a device …
After last week’s riproaring start to the third season of ‘Blue Lights,’ how did Episode Two fare? Before we find out, a quick reminder that as with reviews of episodes of previous series of ‘Blue Lights,’ this piece will inevitably contain some spoilers. So if you don’t want to know what happened at the end of Episode One or part of Episode Two, please refrain from reading this and return when you’ve viewed both episodes. (SPOILERS ALERT!!!) Episode Two began …
Its previous series have been lauded by The Times, The Guardian, The Scotsman and The Spectator. It airs not just in the UK and the Republic but in countries like Australia, Holland, Norway, Poland, India, Singapore and Malaysia. It has a BAFTA in the bag for Best Drama Series. BBC1’s ‘Blue Lights’ has made one hell of an impression inside and outside Northern Ireland. But nowhere is it more scrutinised than in the home patch of its creators Declan Lawn …
To lose one beloved ‘Blue Lights’ character last year was unfortunate. But to lose two this time around would have been disastrous. (SPOILER ALERT) Yet this was the scenario ‘Blue Lights’ viewers were facing at the end of last week’s penultimate episode when a passing car belonging to Sian Brooke’s Grace Ellis and Martin McCann’s Stevie Neil was hit with a bullet. Fans of the BBC1 show had witnessed Alfie Lawless’ young boy Henry Thompson accidentally discharging a gun hidden …
So let’s start with the good news. (SPOILER ALERT!!) After his beating in last week’s episode in a Belfast nightclub during a botched surveillance operation organised by Des Eastwood’s DS Murray Canning, Nathan Braniff’s Constable Tommy Foster was still alive. Katherine Devlin’s Constable Annie Conlon was on the warpath, though – pulling into the car park of Blackthorn Police Station as if she had just navigated Gambon Corner. As DS Canning and Frank Blake’s Constable Shane Bradley hunched over a …
The latest installment of ‘Blue Lights’ began with a tight close up of Seamus O’Hara’s Lee Thompson as he faced questions about the discovery of £30,000 in the boot of one of his taxis. Claiming it was the sum collected for charitable donations towards a new community centre in Mount Eden, he produced a statement corroborating his claim from its chairman, Dan Gordon’s veteran loyalist Rab McKendry. However Jonathan Harden and Joanne Crawford’s Inspectors Jonty Johnston and Helen McNally were …
After the conclusion of last week’s episode of ‘Blue Lights,’ nerves were fraying on the loyalist Mount Eden estate as residents fretted about a possible paramilitary feud. (SPOILER ALERT!!) The shooting last week of Chris Corrigan’s Jim Dixon sent shockwaves through the community and catapulted Blackthorn Police Station into a flurry of activity. Although you wouldn’t have known it from the start of this week’s episode, as Katherine Devlin’s PC Annie Conlon and Frank Blake’s PC Shane Bradley woke up …
It was a bit of a subdued start to the latest episode of ‘Blue Lights’. (SPOILERS ALERT!!) Nathan Braniff’s PC Tommy Foster was on a date with Dearbhaile McKinney’s fellow police officer Aisling after persuading her in last week’s opening episode of Series Two to go out with him. With her based in Derry/Londonderry and him in Belfast, they chose the rather unglamorous venue of a bus serving breakfast in a car park at the Glenshane Pass to meet up. …
Here we go. Series Two of ‘Blue Lights’ has landed and after an electrifying debut last year, the boulder has rolled back down the hill. Twelve months ago, Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn delivered not just the best Belfast TV drama to hit our screens but a cop show that could compete with the very best. Expectations for this series have subsequently rocketed and understandably so – especially now that the BBC has guaranteed a third and fourth series. Let’s …
So here we are – the final episode of this series of ‘Blue Lights’. And again, it only seems fair to fire another warning shot to those reading this review to expect a lot of spoilers from previous episodes. So if you’ve not yet seen all five episodes preceding this one, you should probably watch them first before reading this. With viewers still reeling from the events of last week’s episode, ‘Blue Lights’ immediately thrust its audience into the mania …
We hear a lot about the last 20 years being a Golden Age for television and with some justification. But right now it really feels like a Golden Age for Irish TV comedy and drama. After years of developing directing, writing, acting and film production talent, stories set in Dublin and Cork are really making their mark. Sharon Horgan’s Apple TV+ black comedy ‘Bad Sisters‘ was last year’s most exhilarating new show. RTE and AMC’s crime drama ‘Kin‘ with Clare …
Dan McGinn is a journalist who was previously the Ireland Political Editor and Ireland Deputy Editor of the Press Association and has worked for the Irish News, Belfast Telegraph and other publications and for TV and radio. He currently works in communications and public affairs and is also a film and television critic with his own blog They’ll Love It In Pomona which covers the latest cinema and television releases.
After three episodes carefully cultivating characters and their story arcs, the ‘Blue Lights’ writing team decided to shake things up. Tonight’s instalment was largely in flashback, with Fran Harris, Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn framing their latest tale around a chaotic night shift for the officers of Blackthorn Police Station. The episode began with Aoibheann McCann’s Police Ombudsman investigator Grace Gilroy being dispatched to find out if Blackthorn’s officers could have done more to prevent a death during the previous …
Having got off to a good start in its first two episodes and earned the admiration of boxing legend Frank Bruno, many ‘Blue Lights’ viewers have been wondering how the show will kick on as it reaches the halfway point. Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn’s series has done a pretty good job up until now of establishing its characters and opening up several storylines. But now we’ve reached the halfway point, this is the moment when it really needs to …
Episode two of ‘Blue Lights’ began with Issac Heslip’s drug dealer JP Jr dropping off pills at a house in an affluent neighbourhood. The dealer whizzed around south Belfast in an e-scooter and turned out to be the same lad who rode a bike in the previous episode and taunted Nathan Braniff’s rookie PSNI officer Tommy Foster. The drugs he dealt, however, were part of a bad batch sourced through Dublin by the McIntyre gang. Soon overdoses were taking place …
In October 2019, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute published an assessment of police reforms in Northern Ireland. The authors Dr Marina Caprini and Junseo Hwang chronicled in their article the experience of policing from the Troubles to the Good Friday Agreement. They noted the evolution of policing from the Patten Commission through to St Andrews Agreement to the 2010 Hillsborough Castle Agreement and highlighted the challenges faced by the PSNI as well as its achievements. Both authors observed the …
And so this is it. One last outing for ‘Derry Girls’… and what a final outing! Lisa McGee set her final episode of the sitcom one year on from the events of the previous night’s heartwrenching episode. It began with a montage of images from previous episodes, playing to the sound of the bells of the Angelus. Donna Traynor – who else? – was on TV screens asking the question on every ‘Derry Girls’ fan’s lips: “Could this be the …
