THE RESPONDER - BBC 9pm mon and Tue. TV PACE. NO SPOILERS

[Blondeshavemorefun]

Staring martin Freeman

Penned by ex-police officer Tony Schumacher, this is his first original series for television and he’s on familiar ground as he focuses on the emotional extremes of life on the front line of British policing.

The Responder follows urgent response officer Chris Carson on a series of five night shifts on his beat in Liverpool.

But Chris has more than just the job to worry about as his personal life has been hit by crisis and he is morally compromised in his work.

He’s forced to take on rookie partner Rachel, but despite his reluctance they both soon realise that survival in the high-pressure world of night-time crime will hinge on whether they can support or destroy each other.

Playing Rachel Hargreaves, Carson’s new nightshift partner, is Adelayo Adedayo (Origin, Timewasters). Despite only being in the role for two weeks, the rookie cop has a clear sense of what’s right and wrong

She is disgusted that she’s been paired with a man whose attitude towards the job, and life in general, is the polar opposite of hers. But will working with Chris and under the city’s darkness change her?

Yes like 2 a week.

When have 4 like the teacher means I have to be on the ball and watch each night 😂

I might have to watch this at 8 then teachers at 9

Stephen Graham probably turned it down.

Def staring to grab me now

I missed Ep2, hadn’t realised so just watched Ep3 tonight. Can someone tell me what happened with the drugs/Casey/hold-all in his room please

So a dodgy doctor who gets her kicks getting patients naked to talk to them

A crap therapist who doesn't know who she is talking to

And counselling is now not in the past - due to bag of drugs

I do feel for him a bit

Death of a boy

Carl Reminds me
Of a Jonathon creek 😂😂 with rhe hoodie and hair

What were the gnomes about

Uncle Barry and ian. Being hard guys. Then night night darling to Carl's daughter

So now the newbie isn't such a good girl - is she as bad as Chris ?

Shades of grey

Will wifey drop hubby Chris in it

Still can't believe didnt click was her affair boyfriend 🙀🙀☺️☺️

But omg. Chris leaving Carl to die after being stabbed

And who switched the drugs to washing powder

@DecentPleasant

I missed Ep2, hadn’t realised so just watched Ep3 tonight. Can someone tell me what happened with the drugs/Casey/hold-all in his room please

Chris stole them off her in a party

Now sure how drugs are now washing powder

Casey switched the drugs for washing powder. She's now turned up at her grandparents with a holdall full of the actual drugs.

Given the knifing thugs were still there, twirling their knife Blondes, I'm not sure he had much choice but to drive off and leave Carl.
It's very good.
Nothing straightforward about it.

What was Chris thinking trying to do that deal?!

I didn’t understand what was going on when they tried to nick the group of lads with the coke that her boyfriend was with. She said to Chris as they were driving past “that’s them” as if they were looking for them. But why would they be looking for them?

Does Chris’ wife not know that Ray is the person responsible for getting Chris demoted? And does Ray’s wife not know about her husband and best friend?

Were they not responding to the call about "a group of youths messing about/anti-social behaviour" @Rollergirl11?

I think he's desperate for money to pay for Mum's Care Home fees.

Not finished watching yet, but haven't liked it so far. As someone else said, trying too hard to show how gritty it is, and too much dialogue about emotional pain (including the daughter 🤣.) It shouldn't have to be spelled out to viewers if the acting/plot is good enough.

I was trying to reserve judgement, but the bit with the priest was the turning point for me. What a load of shite. He was drunk driving!! As if 2 officers would just leave it, as some kind of moral crusade

And of course people who do bad things have other stuff going on in their lives (his mum etc.) But people who don't do bad things also have difficult and traumatic stuff to deal with, feels like the show is just making excuses for Chris.

Don't think it was the right role for MF. He's not a hard man, so it didn't ring true. At all.

Casey and Marco the best in the show by far! Bloody brilliant, those two!

But that's the whole point @LifesABotch. This is not a TV drama which is all about cops = good/civvies = bad, or even cops = bad/civvies = bad and good. It's certainly not about making excuses for him - there's nothing in what we've seen so far that would actually condone his behaviour.

It's about someone with serious in his life and struggling with what it means, for him, to be a good cop. When so much of the day-to-day life of a cop has to about nuance and compromise. Partnering him with an idealistic, naive newbie is deliberate in this regard, as it's showing the realities of life as police.

Given that it's been written by an ex-policeman, I think it's fair to say that this is a much more realistic depiction of the force than other police dramas we usually see!

... serious issues in his life ...

@BIWI

Yes, I do get that, but just felt (and it's only my opinion) that it was being slammed in our faces, and there needn't have been quite so much high (and, let's face it) far-fetched drama. It wasn't nuanced enough.

Some of the acting very stilted (Chris and Carl's partners, in particular) in my opinion. And Rachel's partner one-dimensional (albeit vile!) Maybe being too critical, but just how I felt about it. MF as Chris just didn't work. Great that you're enjoying it!

I missed the drug swap

But def enjoying more

E1 didn’t really thrill me

But 2 and last night did

Roll on 4 tonight

I love the nuances of this though - I really don't feel it's all 'in your face'. Chris is trying hard to be a good copper/do good, but the more he tries the more he ends up in situations where not only is he not being good, but he can't extricate himself from them without some sort of comeback.

I agree with some of the acting - I thought the scene where the two women were in the bar was very odd; Ray's wife was very wooden. But then I wondered if that was deliberate - she's listening to Kate spill the beans about her marital problems, all the time knowing (or suspecting?) that she's been shagging her own husband. Must be very difficult to sit there and make sympathetic noises knowing that!

I still love it

@BIWI

I love the nuances of this though - I really don't feel it's all 'in your face'. Chris is trying hard to be a good copper/do good, but the more he tries the more he ends up in situations where not only is he not being good, but he can't extricate himself from them without some sort of comeback.

I agree with some of the acting - I thought the scene where the two women were in the bar was very odd; Ray's wife was very wooden. But then I wondered if that was deliberate - she's listening to Kate spill the beans about her marital problems, all the time knowing (or suspecting?) that she's been shagging her own husband. Must be very difficult to sit there and make sympathetic noises knowing that!

I did mean Ray's wife, when I said Carl!

Strangely wooden and awkward. But, yes, also thought that it might have been deliberate to reflect an extremely uncomfortable situation. Carl's partner (Jodie?) has been good.

Agree that MF is a good actor, no doubt about that, he's just wrong in this part (IMO.)

(Incidentally, really love Kate's short hair - she's bloody gorgeous!)

Ive tried watching, but that accent grates on me.

Glad Ellie hit Ray. Twice

Must be horrible to know hubby and Bf both cheating on you

Casey will be in trouble

Carl is a goner :(

Seems grandad is on the drugs selling game

Why is Casey homeless /Chris giving her money to run if lives with grandad

Now Carl's wife will dob chris in

He really is over his head

Do feel kinda sorry for him

And we knew Ray wasn't quite kosher. A lollipop and cycling teacher

Now the rookie feels bad she gave him info about the burner phone

Would they really not charge a drunk driving vicar

Poor Rachel. Her bf is a knob. She needs to get him arrested and kick him out

And Chris will be meeting the druggie doctor

Enjoying it but my goodness it lets you see what they have to deal with day in and out. All the people criticising the accent really ?? bet its those who are of the beleif, I dont have an accent .. well you do and it probably grates on the rest of us... just so you know.

When you're watching both The Responder and Trigger Point at similar times, it becomes very confusing when one actor pops up in both LOL (Warren Brown - Ray in The Responder/Karl in Trigger Point).

I am enjoying both, but TP feels very insubstantial in comparison to TR. Think Martin Freeman is excellent.

So a dodgy doctor who gets her kicks getting patients naked to talk to them

I wonder if that was making sure he wasn't wired, rather than some other reason?

So a dodgy doctor who gets her kicks getting patients naked to talk to them

I wonder if that was making sure he wasn't wired, rather than some other reason?

I think it was more to show her dominance over him, she's higher in the chain so has more power. It was to make him vulnerable.

@Whitney168

When you're watching both The Responder and Trigger Point at similar times, it becomes very confusing when one actor pops up in both LOL (Warren Brown - Ray in The Responder/Karl in Trigger Point).

I am enjoying both, but TP feels very insubstantial in comparison to TR. Think Martin Freeman is excellent.

Someone said he was in both

But I don’t know who he is

And didn’t recognise thinking in both 🙀😂