‘We lived on our nerves’: how Belfast cop show Blue Lights captured a changed Northern Ireland

As we approach the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement, you’ll find little on television that says as much about a changing Northern Ireland as Blue Lights. A new drama written by two local lads, ex-journalists Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn, this BBC One show focuses on a trio of new recruits to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), the peace-era force that in 2001 succeeded the militarised Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). Entertaining cop-show staples – thrilling car chases, tense hostage negotiations, off-duty banter – are all present and correct, but what makes the show stand out is the way they’re set among Belfast-specific realism.

Police procedurals can be found on almost every channel every evening of the week, but most are propelled by mystery investigation plots, concerning the comparatively glamorous activities of plain-clothed detectives. Not since ITV’s The Bill aired its last in 2010 have beat coppers been front and centre. Yet unlike that