Now, as she lugged a \u201chuge new duvet\u201d, freshly purchased, through the mall, a call came through from her agent. She had landed the role of Annie Conlon in the Belfast cop drama, Blue Lights<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWithin a week I had to pack everything up,\u201d she says. \u201cI mean, I hadn\u2019t even unpacked, that\u2019s the thing. And I went back home.\u201d<\/p>\n Having graduated drama school a year previously, Devlin had been collecting smaller parts in the likes of Netflix\u2019s<\/a> Vikings, and Element\u2019s The Dig<\/a>, but this was new territory. She\u2019d play a central role, as one of three rookie Police Service of Northern Ireland<\/a> (PSNI) officers, in a prime-time BBC<\/a> series.<\/p>\n \u201cI had huge imposter syndrome walking into Blue Lights season one,\u201d she says. \u201c[In drama school] we get training when it comes to screen acting, and when it comes to acting in general theatre, but you learn on the job \u2013 you really do. It\u2019s the small things that you can\u2019t really teach, like making your mark, and the technicalities surrounding it, and being on the same page as the DOP [director of photography]. When you\u2019re in the rhythm of it, that\u2019s when you pick it up.\u201d<\/p>\n Co-star and seasoned actor Si\u00e2n Brooke (who has starred in Sherlock, Dr Foster and Trying), was a grounding influence.<\/p>\n \u201cShe said a couple of things that really stuck with me,\u201d says Devlin. \u201cShe was like, look: if there\u2019s anything you need, just come to me, because I\u2019ve been there before. But also \u2013 and I stand by this, too \u2013 the fear aspect doesn\u2019t really end. You\u2019re always going to be rocking up to set nervous, because you care.\u201d<\/p>\n Following new recruits, Grace (Si\u00e2n Brooke), Tommy (Nathan Braniff) and Annie (Katherine Devlin) as they navigate the challenges and idiosyncrasies of frontline policing in contemporary Belfast, Blue Lights went on to receive widespread critical acclaim<\/a>. It wasn\u2019t long before Devlin was walking the Bafta<\/a> red carpet in Alexander McQueen after season two got nominated in the Best Drama Series category (it clinched the win<\/a>).<\/p>\n \u201cWe were filming at the time, and then got news that we\u2019d been nominated,\u201d she says. \u201cEverybody was cheering and clapping and loving life, but also, on the flip side, we were like: we still need to film season three.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just chaos \u2026 I remember immediately getting on to a stylist. I had some sort of vision of what I wanted to wear. I didn\u2019t think that would be McQueen, which was incredible. We landed there and it was just surreal, totally surreal.\u201d<\/p>\n Devlin is speaking over Zoom ahead of the release of season three. A fourth season has also been greenlit. <\/p>\n She\u2019s back living in London \u2013 second time\u2019s a charm \u2013 and has just got a cat, Lughnasa, who skulks behind her on the couch. Devlin sits in front of a blank wall \u2013 nothing to see here \u2013 but has a face you cannot look away from, and it is this, with her dark features and pale-to-translucent skin, that fills the screen.<\/p>\n The curious intensity of this face is part of what makes her so compelling as Annie, a fiery young Catholic officer, whose many layers peel back as the seasons proceed.<\/p>\n I always love the chases \u2013 that\u2019s when you have to try and keep your cool and act as if you\u2019re not enjoying it<\/p>\n \u2014 \u00a0Katherine Devlin<\/p>\n \u201cMe and Annie are quite similar,\u201d she says. \u201cShe\u2019s from a Catholic background, so am I. There was something there that I could really relate to, especially being Irish and being from the North. Annie isn\u2019t from Belfast \u2013 she\u2019s from the Glens of Antrim. So, she\u2019s a country girl, and I\u2019m sort of a country girl, too.\u201d (Devlin grew up \u201cbetween the town and countryside\u201d in Cookstown, Co Tyrone).<\/p>\n What does she think compels a young Catholic woman like Annie to join the PSNI?<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a constant question, especially this season with Annie, where there are a lot of sacrifices being made \u2026 At the minute, within the PSNI, 32 per cent are Catholic. [The Catholic population] is underrepresented, and it has been for numerous reasons, such as mistrust within Catholic communities dating back to the Troubles and the RUC \u2026 There\u2019s a lovely scene in season three [where] Tommy asks: why are we doing this? Why are we sacrificing so much? Because they are \u2013 it\u2019s a real vocation. And Annie and a couple of others say: because it\u2019s important. I think that\u2019s what it boils down to.\u201d<\/p>\n Co-created by Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, who both hail from the North and who first met as reporters on BBC\u2019s Panorama, the show has an authenticity and lightness of touch that sets it apart.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a police show that isn\u2019t copaganda \u2013 that isn\u2019t sleek and sexy. You\u2019re seeing real-life police officers that have their flaws. It\u2019s also a show that isn\u2019t afraid to ask big questions and show those hard-hitting topics.\u201d<\/p>\n In season three, the complexities and injustices of class are under the microscope, as the officers reckon with the hidden world of white collar-criminals who facilitate organised crime.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re very much within the belly of the beast in this season, and dealing with a system that is so much bigger than themselves and super-overwhelming for them as characters,\u201d says Devlin. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of really heavy stuff. They bring up a super hard-hitting topic about car accidents within the North. There\u2019s a scene where Aisling [Dearbh\u00e1ile McKinney] and Annie arrive to a car accident, and it offers up this question of how people deal with trauma, and how they deal with grief.\u201d<\/p>\n [\u00a0Blue Lights review: This compelling show is a rare spark in the moribund world of Irish crime televisionOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Along with hard-hitting topics, we can also expect stunts, car chases, action.<\/p>\n \u201cI always love the chases \u2013 that\u2019s when you have to try and keep your cool and act as if you\u2019re not enjoying it.\u201d<\/p>\n And three seasons in, Devlin, like her character, is quite literally settling into the uniform.<\/p>\n \u201cThe uniform is naturally very heavy. It\u2019s a really good way into the character, because it changes your whole posture. It changes the way you walk. Getting used to that was a bit of a struggle. <\/p>\n \u201cBut then, also, we have a fantastic police advisor on set that we can go to if we want to ask a question. He\u2019s super on it when it comes to making sure that we\u2019re \u2026 staying true to how it\u2019s supposed to be.\u201d<\/p>\n The daughter of a civil engineer father and artist mother, Devlin knew she wanted to be an actor from a young age, and saw performance as a way of expressing her big imagination.<\/p>\n I think what makes a truthful, good actor is somebody that doesn\u2019t want to be famous<\/p>\n \u2014 \u00a0Katherine Devlin<\/p>\n \u201cI loved the idea of just stepping into different character. I was really shy in school, and I remember being petrified at the idea of having to speak, or to read out loud, in class. <\/p>\n \u201cThe idea of being perceived as myself was actually very terrifying. But when it came to the acting side of things, there was a real comfortability.\u201d<\/p>\n She took drama classes as a child, and remembers her first performance, aged nine, wearing a flamboyant red hat and doing a Southern American accent, on stage in the Burnavon Theatre in Cookstown. Later, having turned down several university offers, she completed a foundation course in Acting and Theatre at Dublin\u2019s Lir Academy<\/a>, before working in a Dublin sushi restaurant.<\/p>\n She recalls this as one of her \u201cfondest memories \u2026 I think everybody should have some experience of dealing with the public and [doing a job] such as waitressing\u201d. After this, she went on to train at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. <\/p>\n![\"Blue](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/7LW24USEERGRNNCCEJOY43HJVI.jpg\")
Blue Lights viewers can expect hard-hitting topics, stunts and car chases from season three. Photograph: BBC\/ Two Cities Television <\/p>\n![\"Actor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/OYNG7TNJ6BFLFKZ253ADUWHYM4.jpg\")
Actor Katherine Devlin, who stars in BBC’s police drama Blue Lights <\/p>\n