Viewers say new BBC police drama is ‘better than Happy Valley’

The Belfast-set drama is set to make a return to our screens

Well, thankfully we didn't have to wait very long, as Blue Lights premiered its first season just a few months after the beloved Sarah Lancashire-led show came to an end.

It wasn't long after Blue Lights came to our screens until fans were saying it was the perfect replacement for the crime drama in their entertainment schedule - and that it might even be better.

"For three police recruits in Belfast, the pressure is immense," the official synopsis reads. "Facing criminal gangs and divided communities, they don't know who to trust. The odds are, they won't all make it."

Starring Siân Brooke, Katherine Devlin and Nathan Braniff, the first season chronicles the trio's first year in the job.

Although only one season of the show has been released thus far, fans have already hailed Blue Lights as up there in the crime drama canon.

"Just watched Blue Lights on BBC, all 6 episodes, brilliant! First class storyline, cast. A great watch and equal to Happy Valley. 10/10," one person wrote online.

A second said: "Blue Lights S1. If you think Happy Valley, Unforgotten, & Line of Duty are the greatest cop shows to come out of the UK, slide over & make room for the latest from the BBC. Brilliant cast, plotting & pacing. S2 can't come fast enough."

"Just finished watching Season 1 of Blue Lights (BBC iPlayer) and it’s superb. Gripping and properly moving. Hard to believe, I know, but it’s even better than Happy Valley," a third wrote.

Season 2 landed earlier this year

With the first season having hit screens in March last year, viewers waited on tenterhooks for the second season to land earlier this year.

Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, who wrote and directed the project, told the BBC: "Blue Lights is a very personal project for us, set in the city where we live, so for us making this show is a special kind of privilege.

"In series two we join our officers exactly a year after the events of series one, and now they're facing a whole new set of professional and personal challenges."

The entirety of the first and second series is available to stream on iPlayer.

Viewers took to social media to share their thoughts on the new series after it landed.

"Watching Blue Lights on iPlayer. May have been living under a rock but haven’t heard much chatter about it. Superbly acted and written police procedural set in Belfast," one person wrote.

A second put: "Now finished watching both series of Blue Lights on iPlayer and thought they were terrific viewing. Intelligent, crisply written scripts and a brilliant cast brought the storylines to vivid life. Hope there'll be more more!"

Thankfully, BBC has already confirmed that Blue Lights will return for a third and a fourth season. Although a date for the series' return is yet to be confirmed, viewers can sleep well knowing that they will one day get another fix.

Related links:

Disney+ has just added a terrific new action adventure series from the creator of Happy Valley

British crime drama on Netflix is rated higher than entire Harlan Coben collection

Second series of ‘gritty’ crime drama with perfect Rotten Tomatoes score has arrived on BBC