The Responder

Why can't we have some happy dramas on the telly life is bad enough at the moment without having to watch these constant depressing programming

I had been looking forward to this, living on Merseyside myself. But we didn't get to see much of the area, could have been filmed anywhere. Martin Freeman has mastered the Scouse accent, but the storyline was so bleak, that's not what I want to be entertained by on a weekday evening.

I recommend Emily in Paris on Netflix for something lighthearted! I also enjoy Malory Towers on CBBC!

Can’t believe, in this day and age, that a first responder goes in alone and doesn’t wear a bodycam that has to be switched on. Not plausible.

I thought it was great drama. Martin Freeman’s accent is spot on. I often have trouble with sound so use the subtitles and rewind !

Grannycott I don’t think they do I think he’s a total maverick but I m too not sure it’s close to real life ( I hope not anyway)

Never heard of it till now!

Yawn!!!

I'd recorded this but think I'll just delete it. I still have a few episodes of Hidden Assets to watch. BBC i-player.

Talking Pictures on Sunday at 6pm: Upstairs Downstairs. No swearing there

The dialogue was difficult to understand but I stuck with it. As a family of police officers I wish the public knew more about the stress the job causes.

Have to agree with grannyscott. I know it is based on real experience but surely these days he would not be working with his obvious mental health issues and not alone (although I believe he is forced to work with a partner in later episodes. Only watched the first one so far but will try another, even though I found the whole set up and portrayal of Liverpool incredibly depressing.

Was feeling a bit tense by the end by enjoyed it. Martin Freeman excelled. I think there will be a good number of folk who would like the Police to be able to deal with people how depicted. To be able to tell someone they truth about their behaviour, how pointless some procedures are and how pathetic the justice system can be. Looking forward to next week.

Actually this is TOO real!! In a family of retired and serving cops it was like doing a shift! Boring trudgingly grim dealing with absolute eejits!! Anyone worth their salt gets on in the job and off the basics asap! No wonder he had a breakdown of he was dealing with this cr4p all his ten years! Hardly entertainment is it? I prefer my cops along the lines of Life on Mars!! Ahh.....happy days....!

I agree about violence, swearing, blood and guts. I don’t want to watch any if it anymore, although I did watch the Tourist and managed to get through it on iplayer.
Last night I took the opportunity whilst I have a free trial month if Amazon Prime to watch the documentary about Shane Warne and thoroughly enjoyed it, what a bloke! I’m not even a big cricket fan, except for the T20 and other cricket for dummies formats but it was very entertaining and I really liked Shane Warne at the end of it.

This programme is a pretty true reflection of society that the police have to deal with every day and as a retired patrol officer I know. It was common place to be single crewed when I was at work, in fact it was policy in my force and it still remains the same. I think with this series, you are getting a much more realistic view of what happens daily in cities, towns and to a lesser extent villages.
The acting is brilliant and I will be watching it all, even though I can feel myself getting anxious as some scenarios unfold.
MF character is a bit of a maverick, but every serving officer will know someone with these attributes in their station.

GrannyGravy13

I watched the first 35 minutes and then gave up.

I have decided that I only want light and fluffy entertainment at the moment.

As Chris Ewbank says “ I want light, beauty, joy and love not this ( referring to Killing Eve) It just lowers my frequency”
I’m with Chris.

I recorded this but haven't watched any of it yet. I'm glad I read this thread as I won't be watching it now

My son is about to be invalided out of the police with PTSD brought on by the things he has had to deal with during his 17 years in the force so I don't think it would be a good watch for me

I turned it off after 20 minutes ?. I think the ITV dramas are much better than BBC's at the moment.

We did watch it, but with subtitles! The bad language appears sadly to be a part of everyday life now and has no longer any power to shock. I wonder if it will ever change? I did find it depressing and wonder how many people thinking of joining the police force had thought better of the idea!

This proved for me what a great actor MF is and I didn't have a problem with the swearing or the accents I hated all the characters and had no interest in spending any more time in their worlds

Yes, understood the storyline and Martin brilliant actor and his role being more of a "tough" but caring cop to then feel for this poor young woman when her boyfriend to say he "cant pick you up due to being on a computer game" - bloody hell - what - poor girl. Typical response of some young men no doubt !! Equally didnt enjoy the amount of swearing and upset me somewhat as came from the north and gives a bad image like been said above of Liverpool as friends of ours only the other week had got train up to Liverpool for some gallery event, as the 2nd episode was quite awful viewing and for sure there are some very dangerous places in most of our cities these days. Interesting policing, showing some who are corrupt and it being a very difficult job at the best of times but generally yes gives the wrong impression of Liverpool.

How sad Bluebelle that the f word is not considered a swear word. I find it a highly offensive word I have never heard my adult children say it or their other halves, if I did it would be the first and last time that's for sure. And, I am not a prude!
Breaks my heart to hear parents/adults using it without a thought in front of younger children, what chance have they got?

I too, gave up on The Responder.

Binge watched all episodes on iPlayer and enjoyed it. Regardless of where the location was set, and given the subject matter, foul language was and is prolific. Loved MF in this off piste role and showed a completely different take on policing. Drugs are rife in every single village in this country nowadays, you can buy them for less than a pint of beer costs. Unfortunately we all know the consequences of addiction.

I thought the girl (was it Cassie ?) acted the part extremely well switching between the vulnerable little girl lost to the hardened drug dealer
I m certainly not surprised at the language or the people and problems the police have to put up with I was surprised at the violence and attitude of the police themselves and if that’s true to life I can see where a lot of problems are made worse for everyone

Why keep reminding us of the rotten crime that we have in this country. ? Why not do something about it instead ?
It's just encouraging more and more crime and ugly anger that people know that they're going to get away with and so it goes on.

Someone needs to come down heavily on criminals when/ if they ever reach a courtroom. There is no deterrent !!
I can appreciate that many officers are trying to do their jobs---with one arm behind their backs in case the miscreant sues over a bit of rough-handling. This has to stop to give the power back to proper policing.