James Nesbitt’s Twisty BBC Crime Thriller Bloodlands Is a Gripping Watch for Line of Duty and Happy Valley Fans

A car pulled from Strangford Lough, a decades-old trail of disappearances and a mysterious assassin known only as “Goliath” provide the unsettling starting point for Bloodlands, the Northern Ireland-set crime thriller led by James Nesbitt.

Created by Chris Brandon and executive produced by Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio, the BBC drama combines a police investigation with the unresolved legacy of the Troubles, gradually turning what appears to be a kidnapping case into something deeply personal for Nesbitt’s DCI Tom Brannick.

The series originally ran for two seasons between 2021 and 2022, with both available on BBC iPlayer. For viewers drawn to morally complicated detectives, police secrets and stories where the past refuses to stay buried, Bloodlands remains an intriguing binge.

A Car in Strangford Lough Reopens a Terrifying Cold Case

The story begins when police recover a vehicle belonging to Patrick Keenan, a former senior IRA figure who has apparently been abducted.

Inside is something that immediately alarms Tom Brannick.

The discovery appears connected to a series of disappearances dating back roughly two decades and to the shadowy figure believed responsible: Goliath.

Goliath was suspected of being a serving police officer and was linked to four disappearances around the period leading up to the Good Friday Agreement.

One of those missing people was particularly important to Tom.

His wife, Emma.

That connection transforms the new investigation from another police case into a confrontation with the most painful part of Brannick’s past.

As Tom begins digging into the old killings, he becomes increasingly convinced that the new disappearance and the Goliath case are connected.

But reopening the investigation creates problems of its own.

His superior, DCS Jackie Twomey, played by Lorcan Cranitch, understands how politically dangerous revisiting crimes connected to the Troubles could become. The deeper Brannick goes, the greater the possibility that old wounds — and old secrets — will be exposed.

Bloodlands Uses Northern Ireland’s Past as More Than a Backdrop

The Northern Irish setting is central to the drama.

Bloodlands was both set and filmed in Northern Ireland, with its landscape giving the mystery an atmosphere markedly different from many conventional British police procedurals.

The original Goliath crimes stretch back to 1998, a period when Northern Ireland was emerging from decades of conflict.

That history creates an additional complication for the detectives.

This is not simply a question of identifying a killer.

The victims and suspects have connections across political, policing and paramilitary lines, meaning that uncovering the truth could disturb compromises that helped an already divided society move forward.

The Guardian noted that the story inevitably evokes Northern Ireland’s real history of the “Disappeared” — people abducted, killed and secretly buried during the Troubles — giving the fictional investigation an especially haunting resonance.

For Brannick, however, history is not abstract.

He believes Goliath took his wife.

And the possibility that the killer may still be active makes it impossible for him to leave the past alone.

James Nesbitt Leads the Drama as DCI Tom Brannick

James Nesbitt brings considerable crime-drama experience to the central role.

The Northern Irish actor has previously appeared in mysteries and thrillers including Murphy’s Law, Jekyll and The Missing, and Bloodlands gives him another emotionally troubled investigator to inhabit.

Tom is introduced as an experienced Police Service of Northern Ireland detective and devoted father to his medical-student daughter Izzy, played by Lola Petticrew.

Yet the Goliath investigation exposes a very different side of him.

The disappearance of his wife has never truly stopped haunting him, and the possibility of finally learning what happened pushes Tom into increasingly difficult territory.

Nesbitt plays much of that conflict with restraint, presenting Brannick as a man attempting to remain professionally controlled while being forced back into trauma he has spent years carrying.

Radio Times praised Nesbitt’s performance, highlighting the vulnerability beneath Brannick’s stoicism as the detective is confronted again with the loss of his wife.

Charlene McKenna Is the Detective Beside Him

Charlene McKenna, familiar to viewers from Peaky Blinders, stars opposite Nesbitt as DS Niamh McGovern.

Niamh becomes an important counterweight to Brannick.

She is determined, observant and increasingly interested in understanding exactly what happened during the original Goliath investigation.

As Brannick becomes more emotionally entangled in the case, Niamh’s questions create additional pressure.

The relationship between the detectives is therefore about more than simply solving crimes together.

Niamh needs to decide how much she can trust the man leading the investigation.

That uncertainty becomes increasingly important as Bloodlands moves beyond the straightforward question of Goliath’s identity.

A Strong Supporting Cast Surrounds Nesbitt

Alongside Nesbitt and McKenna, the drama assembles an impressive cast of familiar British and Irish performers.

Lorcan Cranitch plays DCS Jackie Twomey, Brannick’s superior, whose reluctance to reopen the Goliath investigation immediately creates suspicion.

Susan Lynch appears as Heather Pentland, while Lola Petticrew plays Tom’s daughter Izzy.

Michael Smiley stars as forensic investigator Dinger, and Chris Walley plays DC Billy “Birdy” Bird.

The wider cast also includes Ian McElhinney and Kathy Kiera Clarke, both familiar to audiences from Derry Girls, although their roles here are far removed from that comedy.

When the second series arrived, Victoria Smurfit joined the story as Olivia Foyle, a mysterious widow whose connection to another murder draws Brannick into a fresh and increasingly dangerous investigation.

The Line of Duty Connection Is Easy to Understand

Although Jed Mercurio did not create or write Bloodlands, his involvement as executive producer attracted immediate attention when the drama launched.

Creator and writer Chris Brandon originally developed the project before it was picked up by Mercurio’s production company, HTM Television.

The similarities to the kind of television associated with Line of Duty are not difficult to spot.

There are questions surrounding police conduct.

Characters have complicated loyalties.

Important evidence may have been concealed.

And seemingly trustworthy officers can suddenly become suspicious.

Radio Times gave the opening series four stars and described it as “an unpredictable thriller with all the hallmarks of a Jed Mercurio drama.”

But Bloodlands also establishes its own identity through the Northern Irish setting and the political history surrounding the investigation.

The First Series Earned Strong Reviews

When Bloodlands premiered on BBC One in February 2021, critics responded positively to its opening chapter.

The Guardian awarded the first series four stars, describing it as a dense and tense thriller strengthened by its use of place and the legacy of Northern Ireland’s recent history.

Radio Times also gave it four stars, praising its unpredictability, performances and layered plotting.

Viewers similarly praised the drama after discovering both seasons, with fans describing it as “brilliant,” “high quality” and “seriously gripping.”

For audiences who enjoy trying to work out who can be trusted before the detectives do, the first season in particular provides plenty to untangle.

Its four episodes gradually reveal that the mystery surrounding Goliath is considerably more complicated than the initial investigation suggests.

Series Two Takes Tom Brannick Into Even More Dangerous Territory

The first season’s revelations dramatically change the shape of the story, making the second run a different kind of thriller.

Series two premiered in September 2022 and expanded to six episodes.

The new mystery begins with the murder of an accountant, drawing Tom into the orbit of Olivia Foyle, played by Victoria Smurfit.

But the investigation quickly becomes entangled with secrets from Tom’s own past.

Rather than simply repeating the original hunt for Goliath, the second season explores the consequences of what viewers discovered during series one.

Brannick is no longer merely chasing an old mystery.

He has things of his own to protect.

The Guardian noted that the second season effectively operates on two levels: the investigation into the new killing and the increasingly dangerous question of whether Brannick can prevent his own secrets from being exposed.

Critical reaction to the second series was more divided than it had been for the first, with The Guardian arguing that the original Goliath storyline had given the drama greater weight and suspense.

Even so, the shift pushes Nesbitt’s character into morally murkier territory and makes the relationship between Tom and Niamh increasingly important.

Tom Brannick Is Not a Conventional Television Detective

Part of what makes Bloodlands unusual becomes clearer as the story progresses.

Many crime dramas give audiences a troubled detective whose personal history complicates an investigation.

Bloodlands takes that familiar idea considerably further.

Tom’s connection to Goliath is not simply emotional background designed to make him more interesting.

It changes the entire meaning of the investigation.

The more viewers learn, the more difficult it becomes to separate the detective from the mystery he is supposedly trying to solve.

That makes Bloodlands particularly difficult to discuss without spoilers.

Characters can look completely different once certain revelations emerge, and seemingly straightforward scenes acquire new meaning after the truth begins to surface.

For first-time viewers, the less known about those developments, the better.

The Landscape Adds to the Suspense

Northern Ireland’s scenery is one of the drama’s most distinctive visual elements.

Strangford Lough is established immediately as more than simply an attractive filming location. Its cold water, isolated islands and wide landscapes give the investigation an eerie sense of buried history.

The Guardian praised the programme as part of a growing tradition of Irish noir in which location contributes as much to the atmosphere as the mechanics of the plot.

That sense of place is particularly effective because Bloodlands is fundamentally about things that have been hidden.

Bodies.

Evidence.

Political compromises.

Personal guilt.

And memories people would rather leave untouched.

The landscape seems capable of concealing all of them.

Why Bloodlands Works for Fans of Classic BBC Crime Dramas

Anyone who enjoys Happy Valley, Line of Duty, The Missing or Shetland will recognize some familiar ingredients.

There is a damaged lead detective.

There is a case with deep personal consequences.

There are institutional secrets and conflicting loyalties.

And there is a mystery that refuses to remain neatly contained within a police investigation.

But the Northern Ireland setting gives Bloodlands an additional dimension.

The story repeatedly asks what happens when solving an old crime threatens the fragile peace built after years of conflict.

Justice and truth should theoretically point in the same direction.

In Bloodlands, they do not always do so.

That tension allows the series to become more than a simple hunt for an assassin.

The closer Tom gets to Goliath, the harder it becomes to know whether uncovering everything will bring closure — or simply create another disaster.

Both Seasons of Bloodlands Are Available to Stream

Bloodlands ran for two series between 2021 and 2022, producing ten episodes in total: four in its opening season and six in the second.

Both seasons are available on BBC iPlayer.

For viewers who missed the drama when it originally aired, that makes it an easy binge — although going in without spoilers is strongly recommended.

The premise begins simply enough: a detective sees a clue connecting a new disappearance to the assassin he believes took his wife.

From there, Bloodlands becomes increasingly tangled, morally complicated and difficult to predict.

And by the time the truth surrounding Goliath starts emerging, the most dangerous person in the investigation may not be who viewers expected at all.