What happened in Blue Lights season 1?

BBC's Blue Lights is returning for a second season, giving viewers the chance to return to the lives of constables Grace (Siân Brooke), Annie (Katherine Devlin) and Tommy (Nathan Braniff).

The probationary police officers had their work cut out for them during their first outing at Blackthorn Station in Belfast, and the characters will soon have more challenges to face when they return in series two. Blue Lights examined the pressures that police can face in the line of duty, and the new episodes are expected to do the same.

Before viewers dive into the new series though they may need a refresher on what happened in the first series, here is everything that you need to know.

Blue Lights series 1 recap

Blue Lights centres on three characters, young recruits Annie and Tommy and 40-year-old Grace who left her job as a social worker to pursue a career on the force. They had a lot to deal with, namely drug kingpin James McIntyre (John Lynch) and his gang.

The series sees the police come face to face with the McIntyres on multiple occasions, including dealing with a poisonous batch of drugs and trying to find a way to bring them down. The problem is that MI5 is keeping the gang afloat by making backdoor deals in order to keep crime and drugs on the streets, in exchange the McIntyre patriarch acts as an informant on other gangs.

In the end, things came to a tragic end when first responder Gerry Cliff (Richard Dormer) was called in to investigate a number of suspicious cars with Dublin number plates. Gerry unexpectedly came across an arms deal between Mo McIntyre (Michael Shea) and a Dublin gang, which led to him being murdered.

Determined to do right by one of their own, Grace arrests the MI5 agents that had dealings with the McIntyres and manages to steal footage which showed Gerry's death on camera. This allowed the team to make a deal with MI5, and James and Mo McIntyre were arrested instead of being given Witness Protection like the McIntyre patriarch had been trying to establish by being an informant.

Gerry's wife Sandra (Andi Osho) was informed of his death, but at least the arrests of James and Mo McIntyre might have provided some justice to her. However, it doesn't spell the end of the McIntyres for good as James' wife Tina (Abigail McGibbon) took over operations with MI5.

Elsewhere, the show ended its main characters stories in different ways. Tommy, who had been on the fast-track scheme, asked to be taken off it in order to follow in his role model Gerry's footsteps by rising up the ranks in the same way everyone else does.

Meanwhile, Grace has started to grow close to widower Stevie (Martin McCann) — a relationship fans were introduced to in series one. Grace also dealt with new challenges with her relationship with son Cal (Matt Carver), who experienced racism first-hand in series one and has chosen to go to Manchester University in series 2.

Grace is not completely alone though because series 1 saw her help Annie after she was subjected to death threats that had put her and her mother in danger. Series 2 will see the co-workers continue to live together because of this issue.

Blue Lights series 2 is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer, and episodes premiere on BBC One on Monday, 15 April at 9pm.

Watch the trailer for Blue Lights series 2: