Blue Lights cast on series two: ‘In NI, everybody has a different opinion on the police. We’re trying to show the human side’

As the wife of fan favourite Richard Dormer’s Gerry Cliff, who was fatally shot after going rogue in taking on a drugs gang solo, Andi, who prior to Blue Lights was also known for her stand-up, tells Weekend that a year on from the murder of her husband, Sandra has been promoted.

“[It’s] a year on and Sandra has replaced Helen (Sergeant McNally, played by Joanne Crawford), who was promoted to inspector at the end of series one, so she becomes the section’s skipper.

“She gets to get out and about and do some response calls,” says Andi.

“I’m quite an active person and being in custody was nice because it was quite contained, but it was good to be out and about and doing stuff.”

Weekend got to watch a teaser clip of what fans can look forward to when it makes a welcome return on Monday, and viewers can expect some dramatic and explosive scenes, including police Land Rovers coming under a fireball attack.

“No actors were harmed in the filming of that scene,” chuckles Andi.

One of the most powerful scenes in series one was watching the moment when a grieving Sandra processed one of the perpetrators responsible for Gerry’s death.

Recalling what filming it was like, Andi explains: “That scene was a lot. It was very intense and made so by seeing the whole cast there… People responded really strongly. The reason that scene worked was because of the way that it was written, but also what made that scene work was all the work that Richard had done leading up, with a character so loved — seeing his wife tittering on a breakdown, just doing this one final heroic act. As much as it looks like me, it was everything preceding that made the scene so powerful.”

Arguably, it was Gerry’s young rookie cop, Tommy Foster, who was taken under the wings of the experienced officer who also felt his loss the most. Played by Nathan Braniff, it’s clear that the newbie PSNI member has evolved since his mentor’s death, says the actor. “He’s getting better, thanks to Gerry who passed down his infinite wisdom before he unfortunately passed. Tommy’s getting better at all aspects of policing, I think, in the second season. Everybody’s bringing out new things in Tommy… He kind of goes through a couple of different people. It’s helping making him a better police officer,” reveals Nathan.

Asked if he has a new-found understanding of what it’s like to be a police officer in Northern Ireland, Nathan nods: “Obviously in Northern Ireland, with the police, everybody has a different opinion on them.

“We’re trying to show the human side of them. Show the police with their good bits and bad bits.”

Andi adds: “What you learn in training, and what it’s actually like on the ground, and I think they’re really great at creating those scenarios where people are in that grey area and it’s not as simple as going by the book.”

Even though it was his first professional role, Nathan insists that he knew immediately Blue Lights was something special, but it did cross his mind that taking on a role of a PSNI officer comes with baggage.

Weekend asks fellow cast members, Joanne Crawford, who plays Sergeant Helen McNally, and Andrea Irvine (Assistant Chief Constable Nicola Robinson) and Desmond Eastwood (Detective Sergeant Murray Canning) if they can relate to seeing the person behind the (higher-ranking) PSNI uniform. After all, high-ranking members of the PSNI have conducted high-profile press interviews due to a series of controversies (the data breach, the subsequent resignation of Simon Byrne etc), and at the time of the interview Dublin is still smouldering from violence sparked by a knife attack outside a school which saw Gara Commissioner Drew Harris — a former PSNI chief — under intense pressure over his officers’ response.

“A lot of the storylines are reflected in reality. Dwindling numbers in public services which includes police numbers,” explains Joanne. “There’s a line in season one where she [Helen] mentions that one of the recruits went the whole through the training and was supposed to start, but left to become a lorry driver because the pay’s better.

“So she has a younger team and a smaller team than she should. She has pressure coming from up above and pressure from the side.”

Andrea says that while Helen is a very much by-the-book leader, Nicola and Murray take a much more pragmatic approach to their jobs: “With the three of us [Nicola, Helen and Murray] you have different approaches to policing.

“I think myself and Canning, it’s cutting corners, or if there’s a greater good to be achieved, or if there’s better information. We [Nicola and Murray] swim much happily in those waters.

“Nicola is a strategist, political and a pragmatist. I don’t think she’s a believer in magic wands, just hard graft.

“We have a PSNI adviser and he has given us gold in terms of the behind of the scenes.”

Desmond adds: “I actually spoke extensively to a detective through a family friend, and I spoke to him quite a lot… with the second season,

“Murray Canning finds himself with the Paramilitary Crime Task Force, so a lot of research was done on loyalist paramilitaries and where we find ourselves in an increasing drug problem.”

Helen adds: “Anyone who has a uniform, be it a police uniform, fire uniform, we sometimes forget there’s a person behind the uniform.”

Andi reveals that while she knew the quality of Blue Lights was top-notch, she could never have predicted the immediate response.

“Reading it, I knew without a doubt that it was special… I thought, that maybe it would be like Line of Duty which was a slow burn and had sat on BBC Two, but you never know. My friends were talking about the show, talking about how the first series ends, and I said, ‘Don’t you’re going to make me start [crying]’.”

Reflecting on what was her knowledge of Northern Ireland before she signed up to the series, Andi says: “The context for me is the Met, it isn’t even UK-wide.

“One of the opening scenes is Grace checking under her car, and it’s: ‘Oh we’re not in Kansas anymore. It’s all been a learning curve, and it’s been humbling to learn about this history that’s been on my doorstop… Every day is a school day for me.

“There were times when I thought: Am I going to get a lot of stick for playing a police officer? But it couldn’t be more opposite.

“The only thing they say is: Why did you kill Gerry? Everyone’s so positive about the show, but they do say: Why did you kill Gerry?”

A new member to the cast is Game of Thrones and Normal People star Frank Blake who plays elusive detective Shane Bradley, a cop who has ambitions, according to the Co Clare native.

“Shane would like to get into intelligence policing, but first he wants to see the action. He’s bringing a lot of experience into this gang but he sees himself going somewhere else and it’s just a stop gap.”

Frank had originally auditioned for the first series, but he would have to wait for its follow-up before he could go from fan to behind the cameras, with faux — but impressive — arm tattoos .

“I really enjoyed the first season as a viewer… I liked that it was about the characters and the people of the city, and not a flashy plot. It was about really compelling characters, and from that came an extremely interesting plot and that got the texture of the city.

“When I got to finally meet [Blue Lights creators and writers] Declan and Adam, it was great.”

“The ins and outs of it were new to me. We had a PSNI adviser who was on set a lot, and was really helpful, and made sure things were accurate but also understood that we were making a drama.

“He would say, ‘This is what you should do, but this is maybe what your character would do’. When the cameras weren’t rolling, I would chat to him a lot. He had a lot of experience.

“Every single thing was new, but at the end of the day you’re playing people, and that comes first. Living in Belfast as well, I spent a lot of time here beforehand. Getting time on the show has opened the city to me and vice versa.”

A teaser clip hints of an attraction between Annie Conlon (Katherine Devlin) and Shane, so is something romantic on the cards for the pair?

“Shane and Annie get paired up initially to go out on patrol and they’re figuring it out,” says Katherine, who explains that she was overwhelmed by the reaction to the first series. “I genuinely had no idea of the response. At the same time, I knew strong writing always shines through.”

Last time, viewers saw Annie as she was grappling with her love of being in the GAA and her career in the PSNI — a decision that puts her safety at risk. Did that plotline resonate with local viewers at all?

“I got a few lovely messages, but they weren’t politically motivated,” she reveals. “I have a lot of friends who play camogie and they just said how lovely it was to see it on screen on the BBC. We’re playing people. There’s not a certain way to be... they’re just human. You see it time and time again in police TV shows that it looks sexy and sleek.”

Asked what makes Blue Lights stand out from the plethora of other cop dramas clogging up our streaming feeds and programme recommendations, Frank quickly interjects: “It’s not what makes Blue Lights stand out, it’s what makes it stand up. Good writing, good characters.”

And although Gerry’s now sadly gone, Richard Dormer’s presence is still very much felt by the cast — as a character and an actor. For Nathan, that means life imitating art when it comes to their mentor/apprentice dynamic. “I still speak to him regularly… [the way our characters were] that maybe spilled over into real life,” he remarks. “It’s whole different kettle of fish to watch yourself act, it’s a weird thing. I think it’s something you have to get used to.”

For Andi’s Sandra, the loss of Gerry is existential: “I would say that she’s coping rather than thriving. There is a question mark with her: does she stay? Where do I go from here? Sandra has a question mark about what happens next.”