This precision-crafted Belfast police drama is a tense, thrilling watch that’s rich with detail. Has there ever been a more terrifying cliffhanger than it served up this season?

The 50 best TV shows of 2025

More on the best culture of 2025

T

here haven’t been many police dramas quite like Blue Lights. While it might feel as if you’re simply watching a superior spin on a generic format – the gritty, urban cop show – Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson’s Belfast-set thriller is actually an outlier. Paradoxically, police procedurals usually work as entertainment because the police defy the procedures. The rule-breaking maverick cop is among the sturdiest of all TV archetypes. Blue Lights is the opposite. It works so brilliantly because it’s a stickler for the rules. It has to be.