Blue Lights fans praise ‘superb’ episode four

Virgin Radio

18 Apr 2023, 11:10

BBC series Blue Lights continues to wow viewers, and fans have taken to social media to rave about the latest episode.

Episode four of the police drama aired on Monday night (17th April) and focused on how (spoiler alert) a civilian died due to a delayed police response under the watch of Sergeant McNally (Joanne Crawford).

In the episode, the fractured timeline follows an Ombudsman investigation after a busy “full moon fever” night during which an elderly lady, Valerie, reports an assault by her husband. Despite several reports to police, there is no initial response, and by the time Grace (Siân Brooke) and Stevie (Martin McCann) arrive, Valerie has killed her abusive husband. While all this is happening, Grace’s son, Cal (Matthew Carver) gets nicked having been stopped-and-searched, and she and Stevie have to take a detour to get him off the hook.

Meanwhile, there is all kinds of other stuff going down on a bonkers night for the team. Gerry (Richard Dormer) and Tommy (Nathan Braniff) investigate a noise complaint only to find a deceased person. McNally breaks the rules by clearing the scene even though she doesn’t leave the station. 

Annie (Katherine Devlin) and Jen (Hannah McClean) end up in a bar brawl. Jen gets punched while Annie hits an arrested man’s face against the police car when forcing him into the back seat. He files an assault claim against her but McNally forces Jen to support Annie. 

Talking of McNally and Jen, the former learns that the latter is having an affair with the very married Jonty (Jonathan Harden). McNally warns him that Jen is only using him and threatens to file a complaint if he doesn’t call it off asap. 

The very smug Ombudsman is smug that she has caught the majority of officers lying, but Chief Superintendent Robinson is there to save the day and, having noticed a procedural error in her investigation, makes her delete the audio files of the statements. 

However, all of the above madness wasn’t even the biggest bombshell moment in the episode. Mo (Michael Shea) and Sully (Art Campion) arrange a deal to move a bunch of guns, ammos and drugs, without the permission of the head of the family, James McIntyre, (John Lynch).

And here comes the twist. Elusive senior intelligence operative Joseph (Nabil Elouahabi) is then seen talking to James about the deal, which he wants to go through, as they plan to trace the guns to the Ginley cartel. 

James says he is concerned that the guns going back into circulation will lead to deaths, but Joseph admits that MI5 will take that risk. He explains that he’ll be “free” once the operation is concluded after the deal. 

Fans took to Twitter to praise this week’s episode. One wrote: “Loving Blue Lights. Episode 4 my fav so far. #BlueLights 🚔” 

Another wrote: “Just watched episode 4 of #BlueLights on BBC1.  Best telly I've seen in ages.”

Someone else said: “Episode 4 was especially good. Hope it's back for a second series!”

One fan commented: “On episode 4 of #bluelights, so good. The script is tight and the streets in the show are the real streets where the action happens. Very authentic.”

Another added: “Echoes of #HillStreetBlues in episode 4 of #bluelights Superb 👏🚔!”

Someone else added: “Just enjoyed episode 4 "Full Moon Fever" of #BlueLights. What an exquisite hour of television, just about stolen by a quite brilliant performance from Joanne Crawford.”

Watch Blue Lights on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.