Latest news with #policeDrama
Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
Adrian Dunbar: ‘I'm really excited about the new Line of Duty'
Adrian Dunbar, 66, grew up in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. He is best known for playing Superintendent Ted Hastings in the BBC police drama Line of Duty and was nominated for a Bafta for the role in 2018. The last episode of the final season in 2021 was watched by 12.8 million viewers. He featured in the film Emily and the musical Kiss Me, Kate and now stars in police drama Ridley. He lives with his wife in London. Working in an abattoir was a very good grounding in how difficult it is to earn £20. I still love a bacon sandwich. It gives you a perspective on life that you don't forget. I've taken a lot of pleasure in watching Kneecap rinsing the system. [Kneecap are a controversial Irish rap group who made comments about the Israel-Palestine conflict at Glastonbury and Coachella.] They're an amazing act and they've caught the zeitgeist. But they're good people and conscientious people. I'm going to go and see them with my daughter, just to see what the craic is.
Daily Mail
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
ITV viewers rave over police drama dubbed 'the new Line Of Duty' - as they binge through episodes and gush 'I've been waiting a lifetime for this!'
ITV viewers have raved over a police drama dubbed 'the new Line Of Duty ' and binged through episodes. The popular show, titled Karen Pirie, first hit screens in 2022 and the second series launched on Sunday evening. Following Scottish DI Karen Pirie, played by Lauren Lyle, as she tackles cold cases, the programme based on Val McDermid's novels. The show is produced by World Productions, the same company behind other hits including Bodyguard and Line Of Duty. Sunday's episode saw Detective Karen investigate a challenging kidnapping case when a man's body is found. The remaining episodes of the new season will air each Sunday evening on ITV1, and will be available to stream on ITVX. The new season of Karen Pirie was well-received by some fans who took to social media to rave. One posted on X: 'Enjoyable first episode of the new series, so intriguing I immediately binge-watched the other two on ITVX!' Another chimed in: 'I thought #KarenPirie was excellent TV, looking forward to next Sunday.' Someone else said: '35 minutes in and I'm hooked. This is brilliant #KarenPirie.' 'Feel like I've been waiting a lifetime for this new series of #KarenPirie,' one fan posted. 'The new Line of Duty I think!' someone else said, according to WalesOnline. Another reportedly added: 'Watched the first three episodes already! So good.' 'Tried watching #KarenPirie but really don't care about any character past or present. Boring drama by numbers.' The new season of Karen Pirie was well-received by some fans who took to social media to rave, though not everyone was so impressed The Mail's Christoper Stevens rated the drama an impressive five out of five stars. He described the story line and various 'plots as deep and dark as a coal mine shaft'. 'The characters aren't merely well drawn — they're alive, constantly seeking to understand and learn more about each other,' the critic gushed.
Telegraph
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Code of Silence, review: a quietly revolutionary crime drama
Code of Silence (ITV1) is based on such a good idea that you wonder why nobody has done it before. Then you remember that Rose Ayling-Ellis is the first deaf performer to have a mainstream acting career. The TV industry has been waiting for someone like her to break through, a talented performer whose winning stint on Strictly Come Dancing showed us that she has the chops to carry a show. In this ITV six-parter, she plays Alison, a young woman plucked from her job working in a police canteen to help out on a covert investigation. All the usual lip-readers are busy, and the detectives need someone to help with surveillance on a gang suspected of planning a heist. She helps to identify a new recruit to the organisation, Liam (Kieron Moore), and basks in the praise from her police bosses. They tell her to forget everything she has seen and heard in the operations room, but, of course, she can't. Soon, Alison is looking up Liam's social media and pursuing her own enquiries, getting a job in the pub where he is a customer. Now, in most dramas, characters who bypass the police and launch their own investigations are annoying. Alison isn't, because Ayling-Ellis makes her feel so real. You can completely understand why someone frustrated at being stuck in a boring career, held back by her deafness from realising her true potential, becomes caught up in the excitement of this new world. You can also understand why she's drawn to Liam, one of those criminals who at first seems quite sweet. The writer, Catherine Moulton, has been partially deaf since childhood. It's obvious that both she and Ayling-Ellis have brought their experiences to bear, and they do it brilliantly. Words appear on the screen telling us what sounds Alison can hear and how they translate: 'Ewe se ewe leaf im' is, 'You said you would leave him', which comes from Alison spying on colleagues in the canteen who are conducting a secret affair. A less authentic script would have had Alison effortlessly translating every conversation, but it's made clear that lip-reading isn't as easy as many people think, requiring logic and context. Alison is tasked with watching CCTV and covert camera footage from difficult angles, leaving her with only fragments of dialogue that she must piece together. Throughout, there are explanations of how it's done, and the opening scene gives us an idea of how the world sounds to Alison, which is something akin to being underwater. There is solid support from Charlotte Ritchie and Andrew Buchan as the detectives who employ her services and underestimate her bravery. A taut plot sees Alison drawn further into danger, and the direction builds a real air of menace. The episodes don't drag. 'I'm really fed up of trying to prove myself,' she tells her mum near the beginning, but with this drama, Ayling-Ellis establishes she's easily capable of leading a strong thriller.
