The long-awaited announcement that Jed Mercurio’s police corruption saga, Line of Duty, is to return for its first series since 2021 has been greeted with the sort of feverish excitement usually reserved for papal successions or Oasis reunions. That, despite the disappointing revelation that the long-teased identity of “H” – arguably the show’s ultimate raison d’etre – was an insignificant character. Long before this anticlimactic reveal, however, there was a sense that the acronym-heavy drama had been going around in repetitive circles.
Yes, the early series of Line of Duty were fresh and undeniably exciting, but you’d almost think that it was unequalled among police dramas. And never mind such American classics as Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, The Shield and The Wire – or even subtitled greats like The Bridge and Spiral; Line of Duty has been eclipsed by several newer cop shows, while it has several forebears that will probably better withstand the test of time.
Blue Lights (2023-present)
The particular exigencies of policing in post-Good Friday Agreement Northern Ireland have proved rich pickings for this gripping, Bafta-winning police procedural set in Belfast’s fictional Blackthorn station. The terrorists may have evolved into criminal gangs, but deep-rooted sectarianism remains – a particular problem for a young Catholic rookie, Constable Annie Conlon (Katherne Devlin), who’s at risk from her own community for joining the traditionally Protestant-dominated Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Co-creator-writers Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson not only grew up in Northern Ireland and live in Belfast, they also share an impressive journalistic background, having worked together on Panorama. And like Jed Mercurio in Line of Duty, they have shown no compunction about killing off major characters…
Happy Valley (2014-2023)
Having pocketed a Bafta for her performance in Sally Wainwright’s Last Tango in Halifax, Sarah Lancashire produced an even greater tour de force in Wainwright’s later crime drama. Lancashire played divorced police sergeant Catherine Cawood, still trying to recover from the suicide of her daughter while looking after her grandson – a grandson who was born after her daughter was raped by Tommy Lee Royce. Tommy would become her nemesis, and an unforgettably creepy, career-defining role for James Norton.
A clever move was the suggestion that even in the artsy and scenic market town of Hebden Bridge, bad things can happen, while the show’s graphic scenes of violence were all the more upsetting because of Wainwright’s believable and sympathetic characters. And while some deemed it too violent, that didn’t prevent Happy Valley from becoming one of the best TV shows of the century.
Unforgotten (2015-present)
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The BBC’s Waking the Dead may have pioneered the British cold-case drama, but ITV’s Unforgotten gave the genre heart and soul. It helped that this fictional department investigating unsolved historical crimes was led by characters played by the uber-engaging Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar – the latter, hitherto known as a comedian – a revelation in the role of DI Sunil “Sunny” Khan.
When Walker’s character, DCI Cassie Stuart, was killed at the end of series four, Sunny struggled to live up to his name, although grudgingly coming to respect Cassie’s replacement, DCI Jessica “Jessie” James (Sinéad Keenan). In a clever move, writer-creator Chris Lang didn’t attempt to make Keenan’s character a simple Cassie replacement, the brisk and brittle new cop breathing fresh life into a show that will no doubt run and run.
Sherwood (2022-2024)
Playwright and screenwriter James Graham (Quiz, Brexit: The Uncivil War) miraculously managed to combine a crime drama with memories of the 1984-85 miners’ strike and the Robin Hood legend; it’s clear that Sherwood was never going to be a conventional police procedural. Set in a former Nottinghamshire mining village, David Morrissey played the local copper-made-good in charge of a murder investigation after two killings shattered an already fractured community.
Graham, who was born and raised locally, loosely based his story on the actual 2004 murder of a trade unionist. His fictional tale began with the killing of an ex-miner, Gary Jackson, played by Alun Armstrong, who, four decades after the strike, never missed an opportunity of calling out “scabs” – the locals that kept on working during the bitter dispute. Lesley Manville played Gary’s wife, part of an impressive ensemble that also included Lorraine Ashbourne, Joanne Froggatt, Lindsay Duncan and a Bafta-winning Adeel Akhtar.
The Responder (2022-present)
Martin Freeman has been a revelation here, not only for his authentic-sounding Scouse accent, but for his hollow-eyed, Emmy-winning performance as Chris Carson, a Liverpool cop living on the edge after working too many nights as a police response officer, mostly dealing with antisocial behaviour rather than bringing down major criminals. We know from his dark domestic comedy Breeders that Freeman can do suppressed anger, but Carson’s barely contained fury is on a different order as he tramps Liverpool’s mean streets while coping with the possibility that his wife and child plan to move to London.
The show, which gave the late-great Bernard Hill (Boys from the Blackstuff) a meaty swansong role as Carson’s monstrous father, drips authenticity, thanks to writer Tony Schumacher’s previous life as a Liverpool response officer.
Prime Suspect (1991-2006)
Helen Mirren enjoyed the meatiest role of her long career as DCI Jane Tennison in Lynda La Plante’s landmark police drama. Over six series, institutionalised sexism within the police was laid bare as never before, along with their general inefficiency and reliance on an old boys’ network.
From Shetland and Vera to Karen Pirie and beyond, we’re now used to fictional female officers leading a murder investigation, but this was groundbreaking in the 90s. Mirren gave a raw and determinedly deglamourised performance as the flawed Tennison, up against a particularly virulent antagonist in Tom Bell’s openly misogynistic DS Bill Otley. And subsequent series went on to tackle hard-hitting social issues including racism, child abuse and homophobia.
