Northern Ireland writers reveal details of new BBC female-led police drama filmed in Belfast

A new BBC female-led police drama filmed in Belfast is to be screened on Monday night.

The brainchild of Northern Ireland screenwriters Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, who also penned the hugely acclaimed three-parter The Salisbury Poisonings, Blue Lights, tells of a single forty-something mum who decides to give up her career as a social worker to join the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

Declan and Adam met while working on the BBC’s flagship current affairs programme Panorama before switching to fiction, and have recently set up their own production company, Hot Sauce Pictures, in the city.

Highlighting how creating a series based on their home was a challenge, the duo explained: “Every writer wants to explore their own place and their own society as authentically and as honestly as they can. We feel enormously grateful to BBC drama for letting us do that with Blue Lights. And to do it with a cast boasting so much new and established talent makes it even more exciting.”

Coming from backgrounds in journalism, Declan and Adam spent intensive time researching policing in Northern Ireland before creating the show - taking part in police ride-alongs and having a special advisor on set during filming.

Blue Lights: Watch trailer for new BBC police drama set in Belfast

Also drawing on local personal events is lead role star Sian Brooke, who drew on her ex-policeman father’s own experiences while playing Grace, a single forty-something mother of a teenage son. She decides to give up her career as a social worker to join the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). It’s a huge gamble and one that seems unlikely to pay off after a series of mistakes look set to land her in trouble.

“I am so thrilled to be playing Grace,” claims Brooke, who may be familiar from her work in Sherlock, Doctor Foster and Good Omens. “There is something incredibly special that Declan and Adam have crafted in these scripts and I was hooked from the very first page.”

Outlining the importance of filming in the Northern Ireland capital, she explained: “Belfast is the beating heart of this piece and it’s a city I’ve been wanting to work in for a long time.”

Joining her on screen are Katherine Devlin and Nathan Braniff as fellow local rookies Annie and Tommy, who both face trying times in their first few weeks in uniform. Richard Dormer and John Lynch are also set to appear in the drama.

“Blue Lights explores a fascinating area we haven’t often seen before on TV and in a way that feels truly authentic,” adds Tommy Bulfin, BBC Drama’s commissioning editor.

“Declan and Adam have written it with such wit and heart that you instantly feel like you know our three rookies intimately. I’m excited to see our excellent cast portray such brilliant characters.”