The Responder is a British police drama series set in Liverpool, written by former Merseyside Police officer Tony Schumacher and starring Martin Freeman, Adelayo Adedayo, Ian Hart, and MyAnna Buring.[1] It aired on BBC One on 24 January 2022. Schumacher has said that the character has "a lot to do" with him and the struggles he faced as a police officer, but that the storyline is fictional.[2]
| The Responder | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Police drama |
| Created by | Tony Schumacher |
| Written by | Tony Schumacher |
| Directed by | Tim Mielants Philip Barantini Fien Troch |
| Starring | Martin Freeman Adelayo Adedayo Warren Brown MyAnna Buring Emily Fairn Josh Finan Faye McKeever Philip S McGuinness Mark Womack Rita Tushingham Ian Hart |
| Composer | Matthew Herbert |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer | Rebecca Ferguson |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC One |
| Original release | 24 January 2022 (2022-01-24) – present |
In late March 2022, the series was officially renewed for a second season.[3]
Chris Carson is a police officer in a fictional constabulary covering Liverpool, who has been demoted from his position as an inspector and undertakes a series of night shifts in central Liverpool. His work scenes are interspersed with scenes of him at therapy, at home, and with his mother in a nursing home. He is partnered with Rachel Hargreaves, an inexperienced and still idealistic officer who wants to play by the rules. Carl Sweeney is a mid-level drug dealer whose stash of cocaine has been purloined by Casey, a local drug addict.
Chris is trying to help Casey and, in doing so, crosses Carl. Other major characters include a naïve local man named Marco, who finds himself out of his depth.[4]
Carson is a conflicted and compromised man, with somewhat divided loyalties, a desire to do good but with a violent aggressive streak brought on by childhood trauma exacerbated by his experience in the police. He has been demoted from an inspector and is pursued by the officer responsible as part of a corruption probe, whose motives may not be entirely honest. The effects of the jobs and Chris' mental state take a toll on his family.
The series will be shown by Canal plus in France.[5] Various other deals will see the series shown around the world.[6] In Australia, Series 1 aired on SBS TV and SBS On Demand.
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Episode 1" | Tim Mielants | Tony Schumacher | 24 January 2022 (2022-01-24) | |
| Liverpool first responder Chris Carson, who recently was demoted from inspector to officer, patrols the streets on his own, encountering familiar faces, while facing new challenges. He is later contacted by an old friend, Carl Sweeney, who asks him to find a drug addict named Casey. Despite his longing to help people, Chris rejects the task, noting that he isn't going to be anyone's bounty hunter. With his rejection, Sweeney warns that he will come after him and decides to go and find Casey himself. Chris responds to a report of a deceased woman in a house, who turns out to be a grandmother to a local boy. He guards the house until the medical officer arrives to inspect the body. Chris also decides to look after Casey, after learning that she is in debt to Sweeney after stealing his drugs. With drug dealer Marco's help, he eventually finds Casey and asks her to leave town for her own good. It takes him one more attempt, when he decides to drive her to the train station himself after learning what Sweeney might do to her. Chris also struggles with his family life, and regularly goes to see a therapist. He confides in her about wanting a good life and being honest with his wife, but that he finds it difficult with his line of work, and not knowing how to express himself. | ||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Episode 2" | Tim Mielants | Tony Schumacher | 24 January 2022 (2022-01-24) | |
| Sweeney arrives at Chris' house and calls him, threatening him with putting his family's lives in danger if he doesn't find Casey. Chris insist on that she has left town, but Sweeney tells him that evidence suggests that she never did. Marco arrives home after a failed attempt to earn money, to find Casey on his couch. He messages Sweeney, informing him off her location. Officers Rachael Hargreaves and Phil O'Rourke stop a car, who's driver jumps out and starts beating Hargreaves and O'Rourke intervenes, only to be beaten up himself. Chris responds as backup and has the man arrested. Chris' boss, Bernie Wilson, assigns him to be partnered with Hargreaves for the night while O'Rourke recovers from his injuries. Though reluctant, Chris agrees to it, but demands Hargreaves follow his lead. On their patrol, they encounter a man named Davey, who has reported that his bed has been torched by local teens. Chris and Hargreaves find them, and Chris threatens them into behaving and leaving Davey alone, in exchange for information about Casey. However, Davey comments that he never said that he knew anything about her whereabouts. Chris and Hargreaves are unaware that Raymond Mullen, the man who brought Chris down initially, is tailing them, looking for an opportunity to get him behind bars. Sweeney and his goons, along with Marco, bring Caisey to an undisclosed location, where they attempt to pry information about her sale of Sweeney's drugs. She points them towards someone dubbed Smiggy, who holds out a party for the night. Concurrently, Chris and Hargreaves arrive at said location of the party, also in search of Smiggy, albeit for Chris' own benefit. While waiting for Chris, Hargreaves encounters Sweeney upon his singular arrival, and later goes inside and tries to stop some teens from taking drugs. Chris arrives to break up the ensuing fight, facing an angered Hargreaves, who calls him out for his incompetence and insinuating his corruption. Chris decides to leave without her. | ||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Episode 3" | Fien Troch | Tony Schumacher | 24 January 2022 (2022-01-24) | |
| Chris returns to Casey's hideout, but doesn't find her before leaving and taking her stash with him. When she approaches him, he declines to help her again and decides to put a price on returning the stash to Sweeney, who is revealed to be working for his doctor, Dianne Gallagher. Sweeney attempts to ease down on his approach to Chris, but he refuses to return the stash without getting paid, something Sweeney for the moment is unable to do. Chris' mental health continues to deteriorate and grows angry when his therapist doesn't remember his appointment. Mullen reaches out to Hargreaves and attempts to persuade her to work with him to take down Chris. However, after he opens up to her after Mullen returns his drunken wife, she begins to doubt his intentions and whether or not she wants to help. Chris' wife asks him to leave the house. Chris and Hargreaves responds to a call about young men who supposedly took drugs at a bar, one of which is revealed to be Hargreaves' boyfriend, Steve. Chris does her a favour of not taking Steve and his friends to prison. | ||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Episode 4" | Fien Troch | Tony Schumacher | 24 January 2022 (2022-01-24) | |
| Hargreaves informs Mullen about Chris' purchase of a burner phone. Gallagher reaches out to him, telling him where to drop off the stash and warning him if he doesn't deliver. He meets Sweeney at the drop off alongside Gallagher's enforcers, who check the stash, only to learn that it's washing powder. Sweeney is killed as a consequence and Gallagher demands that Chris and Casey be found. Kate Carson is confronted by her friend, Ellie, who is Mullen's wife, about having an affair with him, which she acknowledges and Mullen is later beaten by Ellie for it. He also asks a detective friend to track in and outgoing calls to Chris' burner phone. Chris increases his pill usage and becomes increasingly paranoid. Sweeney' wife reports him missing and demands the 30,000 pounds from him. Casey and Marco meet her grandfather, a former burglar, who sets up a meeting with a potential buyer for the real stash. However, the buyer isn't convinced. Chris and Hargreaves respond to a car fire, which they both quickly realises belongs to Sweeney. | ||||||
| 5 | 5 | "Episode 5" | Philip Barantini | Tony Schumacher | 24 January 2022 (2022-01-24) | |
| With detectives arriving on scene, Hargreaves learns from Chris' former partner Deborah Barnes that Mullen's unit was shut down and that he blamed Chris for it, and became obsessed about taking him down. Chris and Hargreaves informs Sweeney's wife about his death before the detectives. Barnes approaches Mullen and encourages him to stop his investigation, to no avail. He manages to clone Chris' phone and calls Gallagher, who immediately realises it's not Chris and alerts her brother Greg, who's in prison and for whom she works for. Chris returns to his family and tells his wife the truth, who although shocked at his revelations, asks him to avoid prison at all costs. Chris revisits a house he lurked around earlier, but is cornered by Gallagher and her goons. She helps him through a panic attack before allowing him to talk to her brother. He orders Chris to find his stolen stash and Casey. In the meantime, Marco steals the stash and decided to hide it at Davey's. Hargreaves rebels against her abusive boyfriend, who locks her in a closet before going to work. | ||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Episode 6" | Philip Barantini | Tony Schumacher | 24 January 2022 (2022-01-24) | |
| Hargreaves calls Chris and informs him of her predicament and he arrives to let her out. He also encourages her to take a stand against Steve once and for all. Marco stumbles upon Casey and Davey and she demands the stash back. They both run when Gallagher's goons arrives and chase them. Chris and Hargreaves arrives and drives them to safety. Chris asks Casey to give him the stash, which she reluctantly does. Hargreaves makes her stand against Steve at his workplace. While waiting for Chris on a phone call, she discovers the stash in the bag and confronts him about it. Their relationship becomes strained and she decides to report Steve's abuse, but ultimately decides against it. Chris retrieves a piece of paper documenting the stash be ceased, proving to Dianne Gallagher that her brother will not be harmed in prison. He then gives the stash to Jodie, Carl's wife. Barnes inquires about Chris to Kate, forcing her to lie about Gallagher. Having sorted out his problems, Chris returns to his family and agrees with Kate that they should do their best to be better. | ||||||
The series premiered on BBC One on 24 January 2022.[2] It aired in Australia in six episodes on SBS from 16 March 2022.[7]
The original soundtrack, created by Matthew Herbert, was released by Accidental Editions in March 2022 and includes eighteen tracks.[8]
As of April 2022[update] review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the series a 100% approval rating, with an average rating of 8.7/10, based on 15 reviews. The critics' consensus reads, "The Responder is unrelentingly dark and inescapably absorbing, with Martin Freeman's hangdog performance carrying the drama”.[9] On Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 86 out of 100 based on 9 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim”.[citation needed]