Episode #2.1

Chris aims to go straight, and land a day job, unfortunately his move is blocked, he is asked by DCI Barnes to perform an illegal stop and search on Hodgkiss, a known drug dealer, his problems spiral out of control.

My own fault for waiting over two years to watch this second series, I've forgotten most of it, but I remember bits, and I remember enjoying the intensity.

The plot is a little off the wall, and with recent events in The UK, it's a little difficult to believe in most of what happens here.

Chris is now stuck between a rock and a hard place, blackmailed by both the good and bad guys, his links to Carl Sweeney are obviously going to ruin him.

How sad that Bernard Hill died the day this went out, what an absolutely wonderful actor, much missed.

7/10.

Bernard Hill died on the day the second series of The Responder was due to be transmitted. His landmark role was Yosser Hughes in Boys from the Blackstuff. One of the most powerful and iconic performances ever put to film. It elevated him from a journeyman actor.

I was not a big fan of the first series of The Responder, very much an average but glum show of a cop in over himself with the pressure of work. The series was partly based on writer Tony Schumacher's life in the police force.

The first episode of series two is more of the same. Chris Carson (Martin Freeman) has split from his wife. He has money worries, he loathes the night shift and has joined a self help group.

It is not long before Carson is dragged down by a colleague Deb Barnes. All he was meant to do was pull over a black Range Rover as Deb saw the driver do a drug deal. It turns out something more murky.

I thought the whole episode was murky and dingy. Too many side characters with their own plots which I'm sure will eventually criss cross. It felt like the beginning of a Tarantino movie but maybe Carson should had been the main focus.

It's BACK and not a moment too soon.

If anything The Responder Series 2 is grimmer and more stressy than the last series.

Martin Freeman continues to be a revelation. Talk about your antihero.... He's best summed up by a senior officer telling him: "mate, everyone thinks you're a knobhead."

Everything in episode one is complicated and feels real. There are tradeoffs and compromised coppers galore.

Pacing, accents, violence and the sense of a city that's beyond decline .... It's all here.

Keep an eye out for the chicken shop scene. It was clearly written by someone who knows the culture.

Banger. Watch it.