The BBC has been on a bit of a commissioning spree lately, and it looks as though our prayers for a new police drama have been answered.
The Responder will air on BBC Two and follow copper Chris (played by Martin Freeman), a night shift officer in Liverpool. The six-part series is written by Tony Schumacher and based on his own experiences as an urgent response police officer. Schumacher worked alongside Accused scriptwriter Jimmy McGovern as part of the BBC Writers Room emerging writers initiative.
We follow Chris as he works night shifts with his new partner, Rachel, with each episode focusing on a different shift. As well as navigating a career in the British police force, Chris is juggling the breakdown of his marriage as well as mental health battles.
While dealing with such serious subject matter, the series has been described as ‘wildly funny’, as well as ‘painfully tragic’.
“Tony Schumacher’s script for The Responder resonated with me immediately,” Freeman said. “It felt like nothing that I’d read or seen”, with Schumacher describing the commission as “a dream come true”.
We can’t wait to hear when the series will be released. And just in case this is jogging memories of AC12 and ‘I have the rank to be questioned by an officer at least one rank senior’, Line of Duty season 6 is currently being filmed in Belfast and the trailer was released at the end last year.
Meanwhile, the BBC has commissioned three other new dramas, also with first-time TV writers at the helm. Sex Education director Alice Seabright will write a six-part series titled Chloe for BBC One which will follow Becky, who becomes obsessed with the death of her estranged friend Chloe. Also on BBC One, there will be a screenplay of Kit de Waal’s novel My Name Is Leon, adapted by Shola Amoo. Finally, BBC Three will welcome Superhoe from Nicôle Lecky, following an aspiring rapper who is thrown out of her family home and moves in a girl who introduces her to the world of sex work and social media influencing.
Sounds like we’ll be spending a lot of time in front of the telly when these lot come out.