Spoiler warning: This review contains spoilers for seasons one and two of The Responder.
Content warning: This review contains mentions of physical abuse.
“We are what they grow beyond,” said a small green muppet to a disillusioned space wizard on a magical island. Of all the things I expected to come to mind while watching a police procedural, Star Wars wasn’t it.
★★★★★
The Responder – the Martin Freeman-staring, Liverpool-set dark crime drama – is back for its second series on BBC One and iPlayer. Where series one was a taught examination of mental health in the line of duty, this offering furthers these ideas with an in-depth look at the effect this world has on the familial unit under the guise of a tense, sometimes funny, always engaging plot.
From estranged parents to surrogate and proxy parents, this show aims to unpack the lengths people will go to in the name of love and the terrible things people do for a better chance for their children, hence why those words by Master Yoda resonated with me.
A brief reminder of what this is all about: Chris Carson (played by a Scouse-sounding Martin Freeman) continues to operate as an emergency incident responder on the streets of Liverpool. He’s now separated from his wife Kate (MyAnna Buring) and balances seeing his daughter, Tilly, alongside the re-emergence of his estranged father (played by the late great Bernard Hill). This gets thrown into chaos by a conspiracy involving a new player in the drug circuit, who may or may not have ties close to home and is blackmailing Chris.
It’s worth noting – as series one did so brilliantly – that although written down on paper this can sound black-and-white in terms of plot, this show has an incredible moral complexity. Chris is not necessarily a good man, he often cuts procedural corners, flies dangerously close to corruption and does things which genuinely endanger people around him. While other procedurals may have morally ambiguous characters, ultimately they come back to their core values and sense of justice. And while Freeman’s character does have values, I would argue this show pushes that line further than we’ve seen for a protagonist.
At one point a character refers to him as “the world’s angriest copper”. This is a gritty, bleak, angry show, with venom pointed at institutions including the police, the Catholic church and social services that has the potential to explode into violence at any second. There’s a rage inside Chris which Freeman – usually associated with ‘meeker’ characters like Tim from The Office – is transformational in depicting. Hidden under an incredibly dry sense of humour, this is a rollercoaster of a character who isn’t always pleasant and definitely isn’t predictable. That sentiment goes for the show as a whole.
It’s refreshing to see this depiction of people struggling with mental health as multifaceted. As Richard Gadd’s Baby Reindeer magnificently showed us last month, it’s possible for one to be a victim, but still respond in ways an audience wouldn’t deem “agreeable” or “acceptable”. These are people who shouldn’t be defined by abuse or mental health issues, and can still be funny, angry and problematic. That’s authentic. That’s real.
We’re not supposed to agree with everything Freeman’s character does. However, what makes him engaging and sympathetic is the effect his dubious actions have on his psychology. Ultimately, he’s driven by one aspect which pushes all else to the side: to be a better father to his daughter.
Nowhere is this better reflected than in Chris’ relationship with his father. I wouldn’t be the first to make this observation but there’s something wonderfully poetic about Bernard Hill having started his career in The Boys from the Blackstuff and ending in his beloved Liverpool. Hills’ Tom is a spiky, indigestible character who asks complicated questions about the nature of parenthood. Can you ever forgive someone who has been so emotionally (and physically) abusive? Even if they’re family? The series finds its answer but it’s worth mentioning that this is such a complex topic and the show gets away with it by being so specific to this person and this situation. Context is everything and The Responder shows various familial setups to demonstrate this is not a “one size fits all” issue.
That theme of abuse is the other prominent through line throughout the show. Whether it’s the drug abuse characters like Casey and Marco (Emily Fairn and Josh Finan, respectively) experience or the institutional failings and abuse of power coming from within the police itself. At various points, Adelayo Adedayo’s Rachel considers burning her hand on a hot iron rather than continuing to operate on instant response. She doesn’t feel confident in being supported by the institution she represents, particularly in the face of her own personal trauma. The show makes you invest in the characters and their trauma and are angry they don’t have the space to get what they need.
At a time when police trust is at an all-time low, it’s refreshing to see these kinds of points being reflected in our storytelling. Yet it’s so important not to lose sight of the fact that, despite institutional failings, these are still very real people doing a very difficult and often thankless job.
This all makes it sound like an incredibly heavy show but the genius of The Responder is that it never stops moving, barreling from plot point to plot point. That keeps it always exciting, while never forgetting to keep the beats rooted in the character’s choices which is what demonstrates the themes.
I can’t know the exact intention of writer Tony Schumacher, but if season one of The Responder was to give an authentic look at the challenges of being a response officer, then season two is a call to action for those being damaged by the job. That doesn’t mean it villainises those who wear the badge. Instead, The Responder positions that without proper caution, these kinds of institutions can have serious damage to the vulnerable and those they care deepest about.
The Responder is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
Words by Ed Foster
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