Blue Lights: The police drama hitting home in Northern Ireland
The BBC drama Blue Lights explores the complex and often hostile relationships between police officers and communities in Northern Ireland. The series highlights the personal struggles of officers, such as death threats and PTSD, while reflecting real-world tensions like the recent Garvaghy Road parade dispute. The Police Service of Northern Ireland is currently working to increase Catholic recruitment to better represent the communities it serves.
- ▪Actors Dearbháile McKinney and Katherine Devlin drew on their Northern Irish backgrounds to portray the difficult dynamics between police and local communities.
- ▪The drama's themes of distrust were highlighted by the recent real-life conflict over the Garvaghy Road parade route in Belfast.
- ▪The Police Service of Northern Ireland reported its lowest number of Catholic applicants in over a decade earlier this year.
- ▪Chief Constable Jon Boutcher stated that the PSNI is committed to becoming more representative and plans to launch a new student officer recruitment campaign.
- ▪The series won the BAFTA for Best Drama Series in 2025 and is noted for its detailed and realistic portrayal of police work.
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| Original publisher | BBC News — UK |
| Canonical URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6grvpppvw5eo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss |
| Publication time | Tue, 29 Sep 2026 03:24:39 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-09-29T03:29:29.200Z |
| Last seen | 2026-09-29T03:29:29.200Z |
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Blue Lights: The police drama hitting home in Northern IrelandImage source, Peter Marley / BBC / Two Cities TelevisionImage caption, Katherine Devlin's first major role was in Blue Lights as Constable Annie ConlonByÁine O DonnellBBC NewsbeatPublished4 minutes ago"Whether it's your friends or your family, everybody has their own relationships with, and viewpoints on, the police," says Dearbháile McKinney, star of BBC drama Blue Lights.The Londonderry actress and her co-star Katherine Devlin, who also grew up in Northern Ireland, say relationships between police and communities there were at the forefront of their minds as they prepared for filming.
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