Is Blue Lights based on a true story? The new BBC drama is making a splash
Are the storylines in the series based on fact?
The BBC are keeping the gritty police dramas coming thick and fast, and newest addition Blue Lights, is no different. But is it based on a true story?
New BBC police drama Blue Lights, has been created and written by Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, the minds behind hit drama The Salisbury Poisonings. The show follows three rookie police officers on probation in Belfast, depicting what a uniquely dangerous time that would have been to become an officer. Grace (Siân Brooke) is a 40 something mother who has left her social work job to join the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Fellow rookie Annie (Katherine Devlin), struggles with the fact that her new career could mean leaving everything she’s ever known behind. Tommy (Nathan Braniff), is desperate to prove himself, despite showing how inept he can be at the practical side of frontline response policing. Read on to find out whether Blue Lights is based on a true story.
Elsewhere on the BBC, Steven Knight's adaptation of a Dickens classic is dividing opinion. Great Expectations filmed across multiple counties, and we look at every location featured in the series. On ITV, The Bay filmed in some of its usual, as well as some brand new locations for its fourth series - we have the lowdown on exactly where. Also on the channel, for those asking if The Sixth Commandment is a true story, we've done some digging to find out.
Is Blue Lights a true story?
No, Blue Lights is entirely a work of fiction from writers Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, who were looking to step away from dramatising true events.
Speaking to the BBC, the writers spoke about how other recent work caused them to be beholden to truth, as they were based on true stories. The Salisbury Poisonings was a factual drama based on real events. Similarly, their Netflix film Rogue Agent with James Norton and Gemma Arterton, was a fictionalised version of a real incident. Blue Lights however, is pure fiction.
Two-and-a-half years in the making, the Blue Lights storylines are based on things Lawn and Patterson uncovered or were told during their research and time spent interviewing real police officers. Lawn said "We have tried to make it as authentic as possible. We spoke to upwards of thirty serving and retired police officers and we spent two years researching it. But when it comes down to it the characters and the scenarios are fictional."
Speaking about the character Grace, who is leaving behind her stable social work to become an officer in her 40s, Lawn continued "So Grace is forty-one when she joins. That is not as unusual as you might think. Quite a few people tend to join the PSNI after having had a separate career. People join in their thirties, forties, even their fifties.
GoodtoKnow Newsletter
Parenting advice, hot topics, best buys and family finance tips delivered straight to your inbox.
We were intrigued at that time by this idea of an early middle-aged person leaving behind everything they had ever known, the career that they thought they were always going to have and doing something completely different. Partly, maybe subconsciously, we were intrigued by it because that is what we had just done ourselves! We had just left the BBC, I had left my staff job to finish The Salisbury Poisonings. That was a huge gamble and a risk for me so there was a commonality that I felt with that character."
How many episodes of Blue Lights are there?
There will be a total of six episodes of Blue Lights, with a new instalment airing weekly on BBC One on Mondays, at 9pm.
Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn were keen to showcase other writers, and give creatives outside of their writing duo a chance to write for the series. Patterson said "Part of the concept of Blue Lights was to bring people in and give them the chance of a script, maybe one or two people per season. Our approach was that we would write episodes 1 and 2, 5 and 6 and we’d bring in one or two people and give them the chance of a script. People need a break. Maybe they’d written a script that hadn’t been produced or they had really inspired us when we’d met them. Our show benefits from them and their energy and their talent."
He continued "You can end up in places that you wouldn’t if it was just Dec and me. In the first writers’ room for Blue Lights we literally talked only about character for the first week. We’d been in rooms where you start chasing plot around and then get to Thursday and people don’t really know how a character will respond in that moment – that’s a room that’s in a bad place. So, we’ve learnt when it works well and when it doesn’t. We tried to make it character focussed. When you know your characters well enough then you can put them anywhere and the plot will revolve around them."
Blue Lights: Cast
- Siân Brooke (Good Omens, Trying) as Grace Ellis
- Katherine Devlin (Vikings, The Dig) as Annie Conlon
- Nathan Braniff as Tommy Foster
- Martin McCann (Maze, Marcella) as Stevie Neil
- Richard Dormer (Game of Thrones, Fortitude) as Gerald ‘Gerry’ Cliff
- Hannah McClean (Sick Note, Josh) as Jen Robinson
- Valene Kane (The Fall, Gangs of London) as Angela Mackle
- Jonathan Harden (Humans, Time) as David ‘Jonty’ Jonson
- John Lynch (Sliding Doors, The Fall) as James McIntyre
- Andi Osho (Line of Duty, Sex Education) as Sandra Cliff
Speaking of her thoughts when reading the script for the first time, Grace actress Sian Brooke said "I instantly fell in love with these scripts, Declan and Adam’s writing is quite extraordinary. I’ve always been drawn by character-driven pieces and I think, having both been journalists, it makes them great observers. You can really see that come together in these scripts. We meet these characters in what’s seen as positions of power and responsibility but Declan and Adam show a very personal journey for each of them."
On her character's place in the series, the actress added "We meet her at a moment in her life where she’s made this huge career change from social worker to police officer. I think that decision is hugely informed by the job she used to do and the frustrations of working in that environment. She wants to do a job where she can make a difference and be on the frontline of that change. She has a 17-year-old son and she’s juggling being a mum, a single parent, and learning to do a new, challenging job at the same time. She’s just trying to hold it all together and do the best she can."
Blue Lights: Review
An early response to Blue Lights appears to be very positive.
Ellen Jones from The Guardian said "Blue Lights’ story of uniformed rookies and their training officers grips from start to finish. This is partly because of the show’s textured depiction of Belfast – a place with complex, particular policing issues – and partly because the characters are so rounded and believable. The series’ emotional pay-off, when it comes, hits hard because it’s so well earned."
David Roy from the Irish News, added "There have been crime serials shot in Belfast before - Line of Duty, Marcella, The Fall to name but three - but the upcoming new six-part cop drama Blue Lights is the first to zero-in on the confrontation-packed, sectarian tensions-charged work of a recognisably realistic Police Service of Northern Ireland. While it's immediately apparent that Blue Lights is no PSNI-endorsed recruitment ad for policing, it does strive to reflect a reality in which cops' lives are still very much under threat from dissidents."
Related BBC Features:
- Where is Future Food Stars filmed? Filming locations of Gordon Ramsay's BBC show
- Why has Gregg Wallace left Inside The Factory? The touching reason he’s stepped away from the BBC show
- Race Across The World series 3: Meet the contestants, and what happened to previous favourite participants
- Is Giovanni Pernice in a relationship?
- Who is Anton Du Beke's wife and does he have kids?
- Where is Kenneth Noye now? As ‘The Gold: Inside Story’ airs on BBC One viewers want to know the whereabouts of the notorious criminal
- Better series 1 ending explained: Everything that happened in the finale of the BBC crime drama
- Who is replacing Ken Bruce on BBC Radio 2? The star confirmed
- Where is Sarah Lancashire from, does she have children and who is her husband?
- BBC's 24/7 Pet Hospital: Where is it filmed and how many episodes?
- Where is Father Brown filmed? The BBC One drama locations explained
Video of the Week
Lucy is a mum-of-two, multi-award nominated writer and blogger with six years’ of experience writing about parenting, family life, and TV. Lucy has contributed content to PopSugar and moms.com. In the last three years, she has transformed her passion for streaming countless hours of television into specialising in entertainment writing. There is now nothing she loves more than watching the best shows on television and sharing why you - and your kids - should watch them.
-
Do you find your kid's noise triggering? Here's why it's totally 'normal', from a psychologist
Even if it's shrieks of laughter it can still be uncomfortable to hear, you're not alone
By Anna Mathur MBACP Accred Published
-
Forget 'the talk' here are 9 things to say to your teens about s-e-x (and five things to avoid)
Talking to teens about sex isn't easy, but make it less awkward with these nine straightforward things to say about it - experts also share what you need to avoid in your conversation.
By Lucy Wigley Published
-
Balamory is back after two decades - why we can’t wait for the reboot of the iconic BBC series
What's the story in Balamory? Now you can find out, as the BBC announces the return of the beloved children's series nearly 20 years after the final episode aired.
By Lucy Wigley Published
-
Is Francesca in Bridgerton gay? With more great representation in the show, this expert shares how to start the conversation around sexuality with your teen if they’re watching
Is Francesca in Bridgerton gay? It's a question many have asked, and you might need to have conversations around sexuality with your teen if they’re watching.
By Lucy Wigley Published
-
Is Eric a true story? Benedict Cumberbatch lives every parent’s worst nightmare in new Netflix show
Is Eric a true story? Every parent’s worst nightmare plays out in Netflix's latest show, against a backdrop of 80s New York grappling with AIDS and racism.
By Lucy Wigley Published
-
Normal People season 2 rumours are circulating, and we have our own Marianne and Connell 'first love' stories to share
Normal People season 2 rumours are flying around, and we have our own Marianne and Connell moments to share - because everyone remembers their first heartbreak.
By Lucy Wigley Published
-
Channel 4 drama The Gathering explores 'toxic teenagers and their even more toxic parents' in an online world dominated by social media
New Channel 4 drama explores the challenges of impossible standards set by social media, and how parents themselves become toxic in their need to protect their kids.
By Lucy Wigley Published
-
Is Brandy pregnant? Bluey fans think the Heelers could be about to welcome a new cousin following the season 3 finale
Eagle-eyed Bluey viewers are wondering if Aunt Brandy is pregnant, following a touching moment in the season three finale.
By Ellie Hutchings Published
-
Is Bluey ending? What we know about the rumours around the kids' cartoon, as the Heelers put their house up for sale
Bluey's producer has shared an update on the show's future
By Ellie Hutchings Published
-
CoComelon has been accused of being 'overstimulating' - the experts explain why it's ok to let your kid watch the popular cartoon
CoComelon is adored by kids around the world, but some experts have shared reasons they don't think children should be watching - we look at both sides of the argument.
By Lucy Wigley Published