TV Review: Night Coppers
With a bumper crop of bank holiday’s coming up, you have a choice to make: Mow the lawn or sit on your bum and binge-watch boxsets (not during the coronation, obviously, that would probably be treason). Assuming you choose the latter, this week’s #TuesdayTip is another TV recommendation.
In Tip129 I reviewed the fantastic 24 Hours in Police Custody. Channel 4’s incredible documentary series that follows the investigation of a major crime from the 999 call to the outcome of the court case.
Night Coppers looks at the other side of policing. This time, Channel 4 are following the uniformed response officers who are policing Brighton’s nightlife. Unlike 24 Hours in Police Custody, this isn’t about investigative techniques. It won’t directly help you craft your detectives. However, policing is a collaborative effort and all detectives came originally from the street, so it’s important not to neglect or dismiss your non-detective characters as faceless ‘uniformed officers’.
The series largely showcases the challenges of policing drunks in a city renowned for its nightlife (my wife and I refer to it as ‘Brighton’s Biggest Bell-ends’, given some of the idiots that these poor officers find themselves dealing with). However they also get called out to crimes in progress, and are the first on scene at serious incidents that may require detectives at a later date.
For me, the show is full of little nuggets of detail. From the way the officers address each other and chat, to the equipment they have on their belts and the strategies they deploy to de-escalate a situation and hopefully avoid the need to arrest. The show can be extremely funny at times, with some of the officers genuinely witty. Other times we see the grind of the job and the toll of years of chronic under-investment by the government, not only in the police, but other key services.
They say that the police are the service that ‘can’t say no’. The officers find themselves dealing with the fallout from a failing mental health service and the people they meet are a mixture of the mad, the bad and sometimes just sad.
It’s well worth a watch.
Select episodes are available for streaming on the All4 service from Channel 4.
Visit https://www.channel4.com/programmes/night-coppers for details.
What do you think? Do you have any recommendations for shows that are worth watching for crime writers?
As always, feel free to comment here or on social media.
If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.
Until next time,
Paul
In Tip129 I reviewed the fantastic 24 Hours in Police Custody. Channel 4’s incredible documentary series that follows the investigation of a major crime from the 999 call to the outcome of the court case.
Night Coppers looks at the other side of policing. This time, Channel 4 are following the uniformed response officers who are policing Brighton’s nightlife. Unlike 24 Hours in Police Custody, this isn’t about investigative techniques. It won’t directly help you craft your detectives. However, policing is a collaborative effort and all detectives came originally from the street, so it’s important not to neglect or dismiss your non-detective characters as faceless ‘uniformed officers’.
The series largely showcases the challenges of policing drunks in a city renowned for its nightlife (my wife and I refer to it as ‘Brighton’s Biggest Bell-ends’, given some of the idiots that these poor officers find themselves dealing with). However they also get called out to crimes in progress, and are the first on scene at serious incidents that may require detectives at a later date.
For me, the show is full of little nuggets of detail. From the way the officers address each other and chat, to the equipment they have on their belts and the strategies they deploy to de-escalate a situation and hopefully avoid the need to arrest. The show can be extremely funny at times, with some of the officers genuinely witty. Other times we see the grind of the job and the toll of years of chronic under-investment by the government, not only in the police, but other key services.
They say that the police are the service that ‘can’t say no’. The officers find themselves dealing with the fallout from a failing mental health service and the people they meet are a mixture of the mad, the bad and sometimes just sad.
It’s well worth a watch.
Select episodes are available for streaming on the All4 service from Channel 4.
Visit https://www.channel4.com/programmes/night-coppers for details.
What do you think? Do you have any recommendations for shows that are worth watching for crime writers?
As always, feel free to comment here or on social media.
If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.
Until next time,
Paul
