The release date for the third season of the hit BBC drama Blue Lights has been confirmed.

First airing in 2023, the police procedural follows new recruits Grace (Siân Brooke), Annie (Katherine Devlin), and Tommy (Nathan Braniff) as they learn the ropes and how to cope in the high-pressure environment of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

The second season was set one year after the events of season one. Following the fall of the McIntyre crime gang, the officers were tasked with keeping in check rival gangs fighting for control of Belfast.

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Blue Lights has proved a huge hit, with a third and fourth season commissioned by the BBC.

The broadcaster has confirmed that season three will hit our screens on 29 September as a boxset on BBC iPlayer, while the first episode will also air on BBC One on the same day at 9pm.

sian brooke, martin mccann, blue lights season 3

BBC

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A synopsis for the upcoming episodes reads: “Two years into their jobs as response officers, Grace, Annie, and Tommy are accustomed to life under the blue lights.

“But their work will take them into a sinister world hidden behind the veneer of middle-class life, the world of the accountants and lawyers who facilitate organised crime.

“The old political and criminal order has gone, and a new global gang rule Belfast, bringing danger closer to home for our officers than ever before.”

New cast members joining the show for 2025 include Cathy Tyson as Dana Morgan, a private members club owner, and Michael Smiley as Paul ‘Colly’ Collins, a new intelligence officer.

cathy tyson, blue lights season 3

BBC

Related: Blue Lights season 2 ending explained: What happened to Lee Thompson?

In a chat with Radio Times, Nathan Braniff said he believed the third season would be the “best so far”, while Siân Brooke added: “The writing I think on this one, it just blows it out the water – I don’t know how these guys get better and better, but they do.”

She continued: “The writing I think on this one, it just blows it out the water – I don’t know how these guys get better and better, but they do.”

Praising the “finely crafted” characters, she added: “There’s a lot of care that’s gone into making them, and they’re very individual and so people have related to them. They want to know what happens, where the story ends.”

Blue Lights season three will be released as a boxset on BBC iPlayer on 9 September. Episode one will air on BBC One on the same date at 9pm. Seasons one and two are streaming now on iPlayer.

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Lettermark

Freelance Reporter, Digital Spy
Rebecca is a freelance journalist who specializes in TV and film. After beginning her career as a digital entertainment journalist for the Express & Star and Shropshire Star, she embarked on a freelance career in 2021 contributing to the likes of Metro UK, The Sun, WhatCulture, Screen Rant, FilmHounds Magazine and more.
Her particular field of interest is horror cinema and she has written for genre publications such as Ghouls Magazine and Moving Pictures Film Club.
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