Television series

The Responder

Name: The Responder
Genre: Drama, Crime
Released: 2022
Cast: Martin Freeman, Adelayo Adedayo, Warren Brown, Emily Fairn, Josh Finan

A gritty procedural following a morally fraying Liverpool police responder through night shifts, where every call threatens to crack him further. Martin Freeman plays Chris with exhausted conviction—this is police work as relentless attrition, not heroism. For anyone who loved the bureaucratic despair of The Wire or the moral compromise of Line of Duty, but wants something rawer and more intimate.

TVMaze rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like police dramas that stay close to one flawed officer's bad nights, where the grime and the moral grey matter more than the case of the week.

Skip it if you want a tidy mystery or cases resolved neatly, since the calls here are a backdrop to one man's unravelling and the mood can feel bleak.

What it asks of you: Ten episodes of under an hour, built on long night-time stretches that ask you to sit with silence and unease rather than be carried along by plot.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Line of Duty2012

Procedural crime drama with the same appetite for moral ambiguity and institutional corruption. Tense, clever, and built on the principle that good people can do bad things under pressure.

But The plot becomes increasingly baroque and the mystery-box structure frustrates some viewers. Later seasons divide the fanbase.

The Wire2002

Unflinching portrait of institutions—the police, schools, politics—grinding away at individuals. Same DNA: the system is the story, and nobody wins cleanly.

But Deliberately paced. You need to commit to its rhythm and trust it. Not designed for casual watching.

Bodyguard2018

British crime thriller that nails psychological pressure and moral compromise. Fast, tense, with a protagonist who's one bad decision away from ruin.

But The final act splits opinion. Some feel the big reveal collapses the logic that built the tension.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Responder

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Wendy and Lucy2008

Both are about individuals crushed by systems indifferent to them. The responder works within the system; Wendy is destroyed by it. Same moral pressure, different sides of the fence.

Kelly Reichardt's minimalist masterpiece about a woman and her dog in economic freefall. No crime, no procedure—just the accumulation of small humiliations. The same atmosphere: how systems fail people, how good people do bad things out of desperation.

But Deliberately quiet and elliptical. If you need plot propulsion and resolution, this will feel frustratingly incomplete.

Happy Valley2014

Yorkshire police drama with a protagonist carrying real trauma and grey-area ethics. Sarah Lancashire is extraordinary, the crime is brutal, and the character work is meticulous.

But Tonally can be quite dark and the violence is not softened for comfort. Demands emotional investment.

MINDHUNTER2017

Character-driven procedural about the birth of criminal profiling. Beautifully shot, intellectually rigorous, and interested in how obsession destroys people.

But Cancelled on a cliffhanger. If unresolved serialized storylines bother you, this will sting.

Slow Horses2022

British intelligence thriller with a brilliant ensemble cast. Morally complex, witty, and focused on damaged people trying to stay relevant in systems that don't value them.

But Very British in tone—droll and oblique. If you prefer plot momentum to character observation, it may feel glacial.

Collateral2018

A single police shooting ripples through institutions and lives. Four episodes, tightly written, each from a different perspective. Urgent and claustrophobic.

But Bleak and punishing with no catharsis. The stakes are real and nobody gets off easy.

Baptiste2019

European noir about a driven detective unraveling. Dark, stylish, built on character damage and obsession. Feels lived-in.

But The plot can feel convoluted and the emotional payoffs are sparse. Some viewers find it more exhausting than rewarding.

The Fall2013

Psychological cat-and-mouse between detective and serial killer, with Stella Gibson as one of television's most complex protagonists. Morally complicated and unsettling.

But Uneven pacing and the final season lacks the tension of earlier ones. Can feel like it's repeating itself.

Kes1970

Both are British dramas about people at the bottom of hierarchies trying to keep their dignity. Same anger at the world. The Responder is Kes if Kes never got his hawk and had to wear a police uniform instead.

Ken Loach's 1969 masterpiece about a working-class Yorkshire boy training a hawk. No crime, no thriller—but the same unflinching portrait of institutions grinding down individuals, the same regional specificity, the same rage at systems that offer no exit.

But It's from 1969 and filmed in a stark, deliberately unglamorous style. Patience required. Some find the ending unbearably bleak.