If Happy Valley left you searching for another British crime drama with the same raw intensity, The Responder could be the answer. The BBC series offers a gritty and unusually grounded look at frontline policing, following a troubled officer whose personal life is deteriorating as quickly as his career.
First airing in 2022, The Responder stars Martin Freeman as Chris Carson, a Liverpool response officer working exhausting night shifts while struggling with his own mental health and a career damaged by a previous corruption charge.
Written by former police officer Tony Schumacher, the series draws heavily on his experience, giving its portrayal of policing a particularly realistic edge. Two complete series are now available to binge.
What is The Responder about?
At the centre of the story is Chris Carson, a morally conflicted police response officer trying to hold his life together.
After being demoted following a corruption charge, Chris is determined to rebuild his career. But his personal problems are just as difficult to escape. His marriage has ended, his family is falling apart and the friend he once relied on is dead.
Working a succession of night shifts in Liverpool, Chris is paired with Rachel, a rookie officer who is also struggling to find meaning in her work. Although the two initially have little in common, the pressures of the job gradually force them to depend on one another.
Tony Schumacher has described Chris as a man desperate to become better while simultaneously falling apart under the weight of his circumstances.
“The Responder is about Chris Carson, a guy who is struggling to be a better person, but who is falling apart inside his head whilst trying to deal with what’s going on in his job,” Schumacher said in a BBC interview.
For Martin Freeman, Chris’s contradictions were part of what made the character compelling.
“The reason I wanted to play Chris is that he is a great mixture of vulnerability and strength,” Freeman said, describing him as complicated and conflicted rather than simply good or bad.
What happens in Season 2?
The second series, which aired in 2024, takes place six months after the events of the first.
Chris is attempting to become a better officer, a better man and, above all, a better father to his daughter Tilly. However, the trauma of working night response continues to weigh heavily on him.
His situation becomes even more complicated when DCI Deborah “Debs” Barnes asks him to do a favour that puts him in conflict with one of Liverpool’s leading drug dealers.
After the events of the first series, including Chris’s involvement with a local drug dealer, his efforts to start over prove far more difficult than expected.
Who stars in The Responder?
Martin Freeman leads the cast as Chris Carson, with Adelayo Adedayo playing his rookie partner Rachel.
The main cast also includes:
- Emily Fairn as Casey
- Josh Finan as Marco
- MyAnna Buring as Kate
- Warren Brown as Ray
- Faye McKeever as Jodie
- Adam Nagaitis as Franny
- Amaka Okafor as DCI Deborah “Debs” Barnes
- Bernard Hill as Tom
- Ian Puleston-Davies as Eric
Is The Responder worth watching?
For viewers who enjoy crime dramas built around character rather than straightforward police heroics, The Responder offers something particularly compelling.
Its focus is not simply on solving crimes. The series examines what prolonged exposure to difficult situations can do to police officers, their relationships and their mental health.
That grounded approach, combined with Freeman’s conflicted central performance and Schumacher’s experience as a former police officer, gives the drama its distinctive realism.
With both series available to binge, The Responder is a strong choice for anyone still looking for a tense, emotionally grounded follow-up to Happy Valley.
More crime dramas to watch
For something lighter, Recipes for Love and Murder follows Tannie Maria, a crime-solving cook and agony aunt whose unexpected talent for sleuthing leads her into murder investigations. The series is available on U.
For viewers drawn to true crime, White House Farm dramatizes the real-life murders of five members of a family at an Essex farmhouse in 1985. The series is available to stream on ITVX.