'Laughs and a lot of tears' as new Blue Lights season three to air

Sian Brooke and Martin McCann return to the beat as Grace Ellis and Stevie Neill in Blue Lights third season

Action, some laughs and a lot of tears are to be expected as BBC One's police drama Blue Lights returns for its "most emotive season yet".

The long-anticipated third season of the show, which follows newly-qualified officers navigating law and order in a post-conflict Northern Ireland, is set to air from Monday 29 September.

After scooping up a Bafta award for best drama earlier this year its writers, Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, are hoping audiences will agree season three is the best yet.

"We are very proud of this season - I think this is my favourite," Lawn told BBC News NI's Good Morning Ulster programme.

"I just feel that this is a show that has changed all of our lives.

"Winning the Bafta award, everything that it's brought to all of us has been amazing and I hope the audience agrees with us that series three is a good one."

Actor Nathan Braniff (left) pictured with Blue Lights co-creators Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson.

The show portrays officers on patrol in various communities throughout Belfast, tackling paramilitaries, corruption, and legacy issues.

Season three will be looking more at "where the real criminals live in south Belfast", Patterson joked.

"It's fair to say that crime has no limits and we felt it was imperative to kind of look across the city at where it happens all over."

Large police tape showing the release date of Blue Lights' newest season appeared across Belfast's Grand Central Station on Wednesday

As viewers have gotten to know the characters over the past two seasons, this season will challenge the officers as they go through "a lot of trauma, a lot of grief".

"Be ready for some laughs and a lot of tears," Patterson said.

"It's two years in, we know the officers more than ever and so we're really there with them on their journeys."

Lawn added that it was "important" to change things up with every season, "introduce new characters, have new threats and just give the audience something different".

Shows success felt by all

The success of Blue Lights hasn't just been felt by the show's writers and co-creators, but by the cast too.

Nathan Braniff plays novice cop Tommy Foster, who is admittedly "naive and easily-led", but that makes people feel drawn to the characters.

"It's unusual that you see maybe a police officer in a drama that's not fully there and is not fully capable of everything," Braniff told Good Morning Ulster.

"I'm sure it's been nice for people and it's definitely been nice for me to see the journey of those rookie cops and then slowly but surely getting better and getting a bit more capable when it comes to actually being able to do their job."

Nathan Braniff plays officer Tommy Foster in Blue Lights

Blue Lights' success has made a "big difference" to Braniff's life, he said, with the show's notorioty getting him into audition rooms he never thought possible.

"Sometimes you can almost feel like you've maybe got a little bit of imposter syndrome because you're auditioning against people who are [well-known]," he added.

"It's nerve-wrecking and it just adds a whole other level to the nervousness when you're auditioning for something like that."

'Small show with a big heart'

Lawn and Patterson, who were both journalists before writing Blue Lights, have used their newsroom experience as "collective therapy" while scripting.

"It's a funny way to process 16 years of journalism," Lawn said.

"You can go to places emotionally that you don't really do in journalism, and honestly I think you can say things that are more difficult to say in journalism.

"Fiction allows you to do that so we mine our past."

The shock Bafta win in May made for an emotional return home to Northern Ireland, Patterson said.

"But for a small regional show with a big heart, we never believed we'd be recognised on a big stage like Bafta."

The Blue Lights team were in London to pick up their Bafta for best drama in May

While the premiere of season three is a matter of weeks away, headway is already being made on season four, with filming preliminarily penned in for February.

Lawn said the show has changed "all of our lives", and there are no plans to cut it short.

"We're just in love with the show," Patterson added.

"To have this show in our hometown about the people we love has been really special.

"All we can do as creators is do our best and then hope that people love season three and four, and see what happens after that."

The new season of Blue Lights starts on BBC One at 21:00 BST on Monday 29 September.