Blue Lights cast, filming locations and season 2 episode guide

The second season of Blue Lights, the hit BBC drama, has finally landed on BBC iPlayer.

The first series, which follows newly-qualified police officers in Belfast, was awarded four stars out of a possible five by ’s critic who said it “stands out from the crowd of cop shows” and was “more subtle than the average cop show”.

He added: “This was slice-of-life storytelling that tried to depict the everyday grind of police work.

“The rather heartfelt lesson at its core was that the police were neither heroes nor villains. They were ordinary people trying to do their job.”

Season one, which was co-created and written by Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, launched to more than seven million viewers in 2023.

Cast returning for the second season include Siân Brooke, Martin McCann, Katherine Devlin and Nathan Braniff, while newcomers include Frank Blake, Seamus O’Hara, Seána Kerslake, Craig McGinlay and Dan Gordon.

Lawn said that the second series was a “worthy successor” to the first one.

“Series one was about what it takes to do the job and I think series two is about what the job takes from you,” he told the BBC.

He added that the show continues to explore the “relentless, grinding daily pressure” of policing in Northern Ireland.

If you haven’t caught up on season one yet, it’s available to stream in full on BBC iPlayer.

Who is in the Blue Lights cast?

Welsh actor Siân Brooke has been acting from an early age, becoming a member of the National Youth Theatre, before graduating from RADA in 2002.

TV appearances have included Sherlock, Doctor Foster, Good Omens, Guilt, Trying and House of the Dragon.

Season two sees Siân’s character, Grace, and her colleagues graduate from rookies to experienced first responders.

She said: “They are the first on the scene and they have to do the job of the police and also counselling, all of that and what that entails.

“I would say as a series, the writers have so brilliantly expanded that world into the criminal underworld, so that’s going to be an exciting ride for the audience to see where that weaves and to see these characters that people have taken to their heart and see how they respond,” she told Radio Times.

Born and bred in the Falls Road area of Belfast, McCann has an unique insight into the challenges facing Northern Ireland.

He began acting as a child and in 2011, he won the award for Best Lead Actor in a Feature Film at the 8th Irish Film & Television Awards for his performance as Occi Byrne in Swansong: Story of Occi Byrne alongside Jodie Whittaker.

He starred in the Oscar-nominated and Bafta winning 2014 short film Boogaloo and Graham. And in 2016, he was nominated for the award for Best Lead Actor in a Feature Film at the 13th Irish Film & Television Awards for his role in the 2015 film The Survivalist.

In 2018, he starred in the British thriller Calibre, which won the Michael Powell award for Best British Film at the 2018 Edinburgh International Film Festival. He was also nominated for the Best Actor award at the 2018 British Academy Scotland Awards for his performance.

Devlin grew up in County Tyrone and graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in 2021.

She starred as Siobhan in the 2019 Ulster western film The Dig, and played Natasha in an episode of Vikings.

Braniff grew up in Belfast, where his parents run a fish and chip shop. Blue Lights is his first screen role.

“I’ve lived in Belfast for most of my life and that was the main draw for me,” he told Pressparty.

“First of all, a show like this was being made in Belfast. There have been other police dramas set in Northern Ireland but they haven’t focussed on what makes policing in Northern Ireland so different.

“It was also nice to see all these little cultural details in the script that Adam and Declan went into. A lot of times you see things set in Northern Ireland and a lot of the stuff isn’t really real, it’s not what the place is really like. It’s more like an outsider’s perspective. You could tell the first time reading his script that they’re from Belfast and really knew what they were talking about.”
• Joanne Crawford as Helen McNally (Sacrifice, We Have Always Lived in the Castle)
• Valene Kane as Angela Mackle (The Fall, Gangs of London, Thirteen, Murder, Hanna)

New cast additions in season two are:
• Seamus O’Hara as Lee Thompson (The Northman, An Irish Goodbye, Game of Thrones)
• Seána Kerslake as Mags Thompson (The Hole in the Ground, Ballywalter, My Salinger Year, Can’t Cope, Won’t Cope)
• Craig McGinlay as Craig McQuarrie (King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Shamshera)

Season one of Blue Lights was filmed exclusively in Belfast.

Filming locations in the Northern Irish capital include Dundonald’s Coopers Mill and Bangor.

With the city at the heart of the drama series, it’s no surprise that filming for season two also took place in Belfast.

Filming locations include the Monkstown area of Newtownabbey, the Granton Park housing estate, the city centre and Dundonald in the east of the city.

Lawn said that Belfast is “more of a character in this series” than the first, and that “you see the full spectrum of the city” throughout the episodes.

Patterson added: “Stylistically, in series two we wanted to evolve and show more of Belfast, and I don’t just mean having more shots of officers in Belfast, but standalone shots of the city that mean something to the storyline.

“We really worked hard to find the tapestry and the blanket imagery that would lead into our worlds and people, and that led to it feeling more visceral and real. We wanted to show more of this place that we love but that is still in many ways troubled.”

How many episodes are there in season 2?

There are six episodes in season two of Blue Lights.

1. This Too Shall Pass

2. Iceberg

3. Bright Side

4. The Stamp of Nature

5. Where I Want to Be

6. The Loyal

The first episode of season two of Blue Lights will air on BBC One at 9pm on Monday 15 April.

All episodes of seasons one and two are now available to watch in full on BBC iPlayer.