Hot on the heels of a second series of 'Blue Lights' comes the return of another hugely admired BBC1 cop series. Former cop Tony Schumacher's 'The Responder' earned critical acclaim and an International Emmy Award for its star Martin Freeman for its no holds barred portrayal of policing in Liverpool. The Merseyside drama showed the realities of officers policing an English city riddled with drug dealing and drug related crime. Like some of the best crime dramas of recent times, it showed the toll it exacted on officers who feel like they are fighting a losing battle. © BBC & Dancing Ledge Productions It also showed the toll on the addicts, dealers and their neighbours. What made it really compelling, though, was the way it depicted people struggling to keep their necks above water. Martin Freeman's lead character Chris Carson was a morally compromised police officer - a Scouse version of Harvey Keitel's 'Bad Lieutenant,' constantly ducking and weaving and trying to not get caught. Series Two continues in much the same vein but it expands Carson's world and develops the characters around him. © BBC & Dancing Ledge Productions It begins with Chris, Adelayo Adedayo's and Ian Puleston Davies fellow beat cop officers Rachel and Eric responding to a street disturbance at night where a man is waving faeces around. Chris tries to reason with him with the promise of a microwave meal in the police station and is making headway when Rachel suddenly snaps and sprays the man. (SPOLIERS ALERT!!) From the off, we realise that six months on from the events in Series One that Rachel has been worn down by the job since we last saw her and is brittle because she's haunted by the domestic violence she experienced in those episodes. Chris continues to wrestle with his own demons too. © BBC & Dancing Ledge Productions As he tries to scrape together the cash for a Communion dress for his daughter, Romi Hyland-Rylands' Tilly, he's suddenly floored by the news that her mother and his ex-wife, MyAnna Buring's Kate is thinking about taking a job in London. Pleading with her not to go because it will impact his ability to see his daughter, Chris becomes fixated on landing a daytime job and trying to project an image of stability to his ex. Kate gives Chris time to prove himself but inevitably he ends up lying that he has landed the job. The big problem is Chris' nemesis and Kate's current boyfriend, Warren Brown's police officer Ray Mullen is also fixated with undermining her ex and exposing his lies. © BBC & Dancing Ledge Productions When a former police response colleague, Amaka Okafor's Deborah Barnes turns to Chris for help with a drug case, things start to go really sour. Trying to get Deborah out of a tight spot, he falls onto the radar of Adam Nagaitis' wily and manipulative dealer Franny Norton and sucks Rachel into the mess too. As a result of the trauma she experienced at the hands of her ex-boyfriend Philip Barantini's Steve, we learn Rachel fluffed a sergeant's exam. And as this series wears on she becomes increasingly obsessed with his new girlfriend, Izuka Hoyle's Lorna and whether she is also being subjected to the same violence. © BBC & Dancing Ledge Productions  Flirting with self-harm, Rachel also becomes increasingly ensnared in Chris' flirtations with Liverpool's criminal underworld. Meanwhile on the streets, Josh Finan's recovering addict Marco is working in a fast food joint and trying to keep clean. However he suddenly finds himself being asked to provide full time care for his baby daughter when her mother is sentenced to prison for assaulting a neighbour. It doesn't help that his friend, Emily Fairn's Casey is still using while trying to become a dealer. © BBC & Dancing Ledge Productions  Pestered by Casey, Marco tries to help her out by introducing her to Faye McKeever's Jodie, the widow of Chris's old drug dealing school friend Carl Sweeney who was killed in the previous series. Jodie has taken over his operation while running an ice cream parlour but she is struggling to make her mark as Franny's influence grows in the city. Casey conceals the hand she had in Carl's death but how long will it be before that spills out? Can Marco keep clean and avoid his baby daughter going into care? © BBC & Dancing Ledge Productions  Will Rachel be able to steer clear of the moral morass that Chris regularly swims in? And will Chris' lies and deceptions eventually catch up with him? © BBC & Dancing Ledge Productions  Now that they are both on their second series, it is inevitable that 'The Responder' will be measured against Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson's Belfast cop drama 'Blue Lights'. And with both two series in, it has to be said that if they were engaged in a boxing match, Schumacher's drama would be ahead on points. While 'Blue Lights' is good at depicting the day to day challenges police officers face and the peculiarities of policing in Northern Ireland, 'The Responder' still seems braver - particularly in the way its characters navigate the moral compromises they have to regularly make. If Series One was reminiscent of Abel Ferrara's superb 1992 New York police corruption movie 'Bad Lieutenant,' there are nods in this series too to Martin Scorsese's 'Taxi Driver' from directors Jeanette Nordahl, Mounia Aki and Charlotte Regan. © BBC & Dancing Ledge Productions  Tight close ups on Freeman's face as he drives through the streets of Liverpool at night are reminiscent of Robert de Niro's Travis Bickle observing the crime and corruption in his home city of New York from his cab. Like Scorsese's film, the close-ups convey the huge pressure Chris is under, surviving in a city that has become a moral cesspit. And it is to Freeman's credit that this continues to be the best performance of his career on either the big or small screen. It remains a magnetic portrayal of a compromised man living by his wits. © BBC & Dancing Ledge Productions  Yet no matter how foolish or murky the territory Chris is wading into, we're still rooting for him. As with the first series, the second series also consists of just five episodes  That is a shrewd decision, with Schumacher delivering five tightly written, taut episodes. The story arc of every supporting character has also been enriched. © BBC & Dancing Ledge Productions  So we are as invested in Marco's battle to keep on the straight and narrow just as much as we in Chris's trials and tribulations. We want to see if Casey avoids being exposed, how Jodie is trying to survive and how Kate is going to handle Chris. Boosted by Schumacher's powerful writing, Josh Finan, Emily Fairn, Faye McKeever, MyAnne Buring and Warren Brown really shine.  Rachel also comes on leaps and bounds as a character, with Adelayo Adedayo doing a superb job as a young officer whose enthusiasm for the job and idealism has been gnawed away. © BBC & Dancing Ledge Productions  The psychological disintegration Rachel experiences in this series proves to be just as fascinating as Chris's and Adedayo really leans into it. Adam Nagaitis is an excellent addition to the cast as Franny, with Nordahl, Aki and Regan making great use of his ability to look really devious. In his last screen role Bernard Hill, who died just as the first episode aired on May 5, bows out on a high as Chris' estranged dad, Tom - helping to flesh out Chris's back story. © BBC & Dancing Ledge Productions  Often these days 'The Wire' is often cited as the high watermark for cop shows. However a strong case should also be made for 'The Shield'. 'The Responder' feels much closer in tone to that US show. Not afraid to tackle dark subjects, it stands out because it addresses why some police officers are corrupted. © BBC & Dancing Ledge Productions  But it does this without ever resorting to over the top 'Line of Duty' theatrics. As a result, it feels more genuine than many of its British or US cop show contemporaries. That's the yardstick 'Blue Lights' should be measuring itself against. And if it spurs that show onto greatness, that will be one hell of a legacy for 'The Responder' too. (Series Two of 'The Responder' was broadcast on BBC1 from May 5-June 2, 2024 and was made available on the iPlayer on May 5, 2024)

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