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<\/a><\/div>\nChris is in a tight spot. The Responder<\/i> Series 2 kicks off with the Liverpudlian night copper lying to his ex about moving to the day job so she won\u2019t leave to go to London and take his daughter away from him; but the pressure of the night job and being drawn into corruption in the long arm of the law weighs heavy over his shoulders. It\u2019s where we pick up in Series 2, which like, with all British shows, took its time to get here. But it\u2019s worth the wait, Martin Freeman has never been better, and steals the show right from under his Sherlock<\/i> graduate, Benedict Cumbermbatch, elsewhere on Netflix this year with Eric<\/i>, a nuanced, frontline officer being driven to despair by answering calls on the night shift.\n<\/p>\n
We see his daily encounter with criminals, the mentally ill and the desperate one after another \u2013 it\u2019s like entering a warzone every time Chris puts on the uniform and steps in the car and what\u2019s best of all is that this drama feels unforced. It doesn\u2019t feel laboured. Whilst the first season worked as a standalone, it\u2019s nice to come back to these characters \u2013it\u2019s always good to spend more time with these characters in this world. Six months later is a long time jump but we see little improvements, he\u2019s attending group therapy, but the sessions are painfully awkward. On top of that; he can\u2019t get the day job he so desperately needs \u2013 and he\u2019s lied to Kate about getting it already. His old partner, Deb Barnes, has dragged him back into a drugs case \u2013 and on top of that, Casey and Marco, Emily Fairn and Josh Finan, are equally unpredictable and always fun antagonists.\n<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/div>\nDebut screenwriter Tony Schumacher was a one-time copper and the authenticity and toughness of The Responder<\/i> shows, it\u2019s a fine place to see how far you can push people to the edge in and it\u2019s a fine place to see these characters try to get out of those situations. Trauma plays a heavy hand, Rachel (the fantastic Adelayo Adedayo) deals with her own trauma with one of the toughest narratives of the season as she struggles getting caught up in Chris\u2019 less than legal schemes, dealing with the consequences of a domestic abuse and her new partner having found someone else to partner with \u2013 and like clockwork, the pattern repeats itself. Can Rachel stand by when he does what he did to her to someone else? <\/p>\n
It\u2019s tightly written with respect and care, Chris\u2019s unravelling tightly focused and deeply controlled. Schumacher knows what he\u2019s doing \u2013 he\u2019s able to bring his own, lived in experience to this world.\n<\/p>\n