{"id":785024,"date":"2026-09-28T06:50:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T06:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/785024\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T06:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T06:50:14","slug":"my-husband-has-to-remind-me-youre-not-a-real-cop-sian-brooke-on-the-perils-of-playing-a-tough-blue-lights-peeler-television","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/785024\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018My husband has to remind me: You\u2019re not a real cop!\u2019 Si\u00e2n Brooke on the perils of playing a tough Blue Lights \u2018peeler\u2019 | Television"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sharp eyes save lives. That\u2019s the mantra of the police officers in Blue Lights<\/a>, although the words sound a good deal more urgent when said in a throaty Belfast accent. The city, dealing with past and present problems, is the turbulent setting for the hit drama. Having starred in the BBC series for the past four years, Si\u00e2n Brooke has taken its lessons about vigilance to heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cI noticed some dodgy-looking activity not far from where we live in London,\u201d says Brooke. \u201cI\u2019d driven past a few times and was suspicious. I told my husband that the last time I went past, I slowed down and did a drive-by, so they\u2019d know their untoward behaviour had been rumbled. My husband said: \u2018You can\u2019t do that, Si\u00e2n. You\u2019re not a real cop!\u2019\u201d She laughs. \u201cI think Blue Lights has got to me. What was I going to do, make a citizen\u2019s arrest?\u201d<\/p>\n

double quotation markIt was a shame Queen Aemma Arryn died giving birth. I would have liked to ride a dragon<\/p>\n

Brooke was Bafta-nominated this year for her leading role as Constable Grace Ellis: a social worker and single mother who switches career in her 40s to join the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). As the acclaimed drama returns \u2013 for a fourth series taglined \u201ctheir toughest shift yet\u201d \u2013 viewers are flung straight into the action as protests outside a migrant centre erupt into a full-blown riot.<\/p>\n

\u2018We had to have weapons training\u2019 … in Blue Lights. Photograph: BBC\/Two Cities Television<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an intense energy to filming those high-octane sequences,\u201d says Brooke. \u201cAdrenaline pumps through you. I injured my elbow but didn\u2019t notice until I had to pull my gun and couldn\u2019t do it. I needed steroid injections.\u201d Could such fearless dedication to stunt work make Brooke the new Tom Cruise? \u201cI\u2019m glad you noticed,\u201d she grins. \u201cThe only difference is he jumps off cliffs, whereas I pulled a muscle picking up a wheelie bin.\u201d<\/p>\n

The scenes proved eerily prescient. Weeks after filming them in spring, anti-immigration riots broke out on the streets of Belfast for real. \u201cThat was remarkable,\u201d she says. \u201cOur writers really do their research and have their fingers on the pulse. That\u2019s partly why their scripts are so good. They\u2019re urgent, authentic, almost documentary-style.\u201d This could also be because Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, the show\u2019s writers and co-creators, are former Panorama journalists.<\/p>\n

Police advisers ensure that Blue Lights gets the finer details right. \u201cThey\u2019re always on set. That day, we had people who worked in public order policing. They explained the protocols and how to manage disturbances. After four years, our experts have become a key part of the team. They\u2019re very open about their experiences and how they affected them. That feeds into the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such commitment to realism meant firearms courses for the cast. \u201cWe had weapons training before series one. We were rookie actors playing rookie police officers, so it made sense. Now the armourers give us regular refreshers: how to hold our guns, where to rest your trigger finger and the like.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Equally challenging is wearing the PSNI uniform, with its bulky stab vest and tactical belt. \u201cMy goodness, there\u2019s so much paraphernalia,\u201d says Brooke. \u201cYou\u2019d think they might have streamlined it by now. I\u2019ve asked real officers: \u2018How do you run with all that stuff on?\u2019 Apparently everything just flies off. When they\u2019re chasing baddies down the street, their pepper spray is propelled one way and their notebook another.\u201d<\/p>\n

It certainly isn\u2019t a costume that screams glamour. \u201cNot the most flattering,\u201d she agrees. \u201cDuring filming, my flak jacket wouldn\u2019t behave. Every time I got into the squad car, it would ride up until I resembled a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. The costume department ended up putting in a piece of wood to weigh it down. For two series, I was walking around with a chopping board down my jacket. Everyone would knock on it and make wisecracks about my acting being wooden.\u201d<\/p>\n

Importantly, the show has the seal of approval from Brooke\u2019s father. \u201cHe was in the force for many years and when I first got the role I sent him the scripts. I thought it captured the camaraderie and banter. He agreed and has been a big fan ever since. He\u2019ll binge the new series. Being able to talk much more about his career has been an unexpected gift from this. Police officers often tell me they\u2019re touched by how the show shines a light on the difficulties of the job.\u201d Brooke is even inspiring the next generation: \u201cA friend\u2019s daughter has said she wants to join the police because of Blue Lights.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

One theme in the upcoming series is social media\u2019s ability to mobilise communities \u2013 something worryingly close to home for Brooke\u2019s character. \u201cSomeone reveals Grace\u2019s identity online and puts her safety at risk. Social media is scary. I worry about its addictive nature and its impact on society, especially as a mum to two teenagers. I recently did [cyber-thriller] The Undeclared War about how social media infiltrates politics. It\u2019s frightening stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

On screen, her partner is Sergeant Stevie Neil, played by Martin McCann. As half of one of TV\u2019s sweetest couples, is she ever asked for relationship advice by fans? \u201cNo, thankfully!\u201d she laughs. \u201cMaybe me and Martin should start a column in the Guardian. Would you have us as guest agony aunts? Grace and Stevie on middle-aged romances in the workplace.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Brooke had a decade of success on stage, her TV breakthrough came in 2017. She\u2019d played Ophelia opposite Benedict Cumberbatch in Hamlet at London\u2019s Barbican then reunited with him in BBC blockbuster Sherlock. She auditioned for three roles before being told they were all the same character: the sleuth\u2019s secret sister Eurus, a master of disguise.<\/p>\n

\u2018It was short and violent\u2019… in House of the Dragon Photograph: Landmark Media\/Alamy<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving been a genuine fan of Sherlock, I had to pinch myself,\u201d she recalls. \u201cMy sole objective was: \u2018Don\u2019t mess it up.\u2019 It was mad being in the midst of Sherlockmania. Oddly enough, my kids are now of an age where they\u2019ve started watching Sherlock from the start. It\u2019ll blow their minds when they get to series four. They might disown me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brooke shone briefly but brightly in HBO\u2019s Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, playing Queen Aemma Arryn, first wife of King Viserys. Was she disappointed to die so graphically during childbirth in the first episode? \u201cIt was a shame because I would\u2019ve loved to ride a dragon! I turned the page of the script and was like: \u2018Oh well.\u2019 She definitely made an impact though. It wasn\u2019t short and sweet. It was short and violent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brooke has steadily worked her way to becoming one of TV\u2019s top-tier performers. Her current hot streak includes scene-stealing turns in Netflix superhero drama Supacell as shadowy bureaucrat Victoria Kesh (\u201cHer villainy definitely cranks up in the second series\u201d) and Apple comedy Trying as the overopinionated Karen (\u201cI love playing someone so deliciously forthright\u201d). Next up is fact-based ITV drama Mavis Eccleston. Due early next year, it\u2019s a poignant account of the 80-year-old woman who survived a 2018 suicide pact with her terminally ill husband before being accused and found not guilty of his murder.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a sensitively told story about this loving family,\u201d says Brooke. \u201cA big pull for me was that it all happened 20 minutes from where I grew up in Lichfield. As a Staffordshire girl, you don\u2019t get many stories that local.\u201d Penelope Wilton plays Mavis, with Jonathan Pryce as her husband Dennis. Brooke is their daughter Joy, someone the actor has met several times. \u201cShe\u2019s warm, kind and naturally very protective of her parents\u2019 story. The care she shows her mum is inspiring. You feel a huge sense of responsibility playing real people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Don\u2019t mess it up\u2019 \u2026 as master-of-disguise Eurus Holmes in Sherlock. Photograph: Hartswood Films\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Did it change Brooke\u2019s view of assisted dying? \u201cFor me, everybody should be able to give themselves the ending they wish. It\u2019s their life and their right. It didn\u2019t change my opinion but it did give me greater understanding of the complexities. I\u2019m hoping it sparks conversations at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mention of Lichfield brings to mind her Instagram bio\u2019s declaration of \u201cMidlander\u201d. Is she proud of her roots? \u201cVery proud but it wasn\u2019t always that way. When I came down to study at Rada, it seemed that being from Manchester, Glasgow or Dublin gave you a strong identity. Somehow it wasn\u2019t the case with the Midlands. I was slightly at sea for the first chunk of my career. A bit lost and didn\u2019t know what my voice was. With age, I\u2019ve claimed my heritage. Maybe it\u2019s the Peaky Blinders effect, but it feels cool now. I want to champion stories from the Midlands.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s an ambassador for two charities close to her heart. While researching a Blue Lights storyline, she forged a relationship with Belfast-based Macs, which helps young people with homelessness and leaving the care system. Climate change adaptation group the Glacier Trust is currently dealing with the aftermath of the flash floods in Nepal. \u201cBoth organisations are brilliant,\u201d she says. \u201cWorking with them is just my tiny offering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having worked nonstop for 15 months, Brooke felt she\u2019d earned her break this summer. \u201cIt\u2019s been a glorious period of work but it was lovely to spend time with my kids. Although I suspect they got fed up with me by the end. Six weeks off school is maybe a week too long. I\u2019d advocate for five weeks and adding an extra week to the October half-term.\u201d The campaign for Si\u00e2n Brooke as education secretary starts here. \u201cWhy not?\u201d she laughs. \u201cIf Andy Burnham wants to talk, he knows where I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blue Lights returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 9pm on 29 September in the UK, with an Australian airdate on SBS yet to be announced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sharp eyes save lives. That\u2019s the mantra of the police officers in Blue Lights, although the words sound…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":785025,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-785024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=785024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/785025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=785024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=785024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=785024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}