As Belfast continues to rewrite its own story, a television drama has become one of the more unexpected vehicles for that rewriting. Blue Lights, a BBC police series set in the city's present rather than its painful past, has earned a second series — and actress Andi Osho, who plays custody sergeant Sandra, returns to a city she is still learning to know. The show's quiet ambition is not merely to entertain but to offer Belfast the chance to be seen as it is, not as the world imagines it to be.
Blue Lights star Andi Osho on series two and reshaping Belfast's post-Troubles narrative
This is where it is, rather than what you imagine it to be
Mark
Why does it matter that she's thinking about research and history before playing a character in a contemporary police drama?
Mimi
Because she's not just playing a role—she's representing a place. If you get the texture of Belfast wrong, even in small ways, you're reinforcing the same flattened version people already have. The research lets her make the character real in a way that respects what the city actually is.
Luke
But how much of that research actually makes it into the show? She mentions a script tweak about who would know a colloquial term, but that's one moment. We don't know how much the creators actually incorporated actor input versus how much was already baked into the writing.
Mark
She keeps saying the show is a "love letter from Belfast" rather than about the Troubles. What's the difference?
Mimi
It's the difference between a show that uses history as backdrop and one that uses it as context. One says "here's what happened to this place." The other says "here's what this place is becoming, and you can't understand that without knowing what it was."
Luke
That's a nice distinction, but we're only seeing one season. We don't actually know yet whether the show sustains that balance or whether it eventually leans into the Troubles narrative anyway. The proof is in what they actually do in season two.
Mark
She mentions doing stand-up for years and then stopping. Why move away from that?
Mimi
She didn't move away from it—she transformed it. The impulse to be funny, to observe and comment, didn't disappear. It just found a different form in writing. Books let her do what stand-up did without the performance aspect.
Luke
Though we should note she hasn't published the second book yet. It's coming in summer. So we're taking her word that this is where her creative energy has gone, but we haven't seen the evidence.
The Pulse
- A city long defined by its wounds is now asking to be seen by its possibilities, and Blue Lights has become an unlikely ambassador for that shift.
- Osho arrived in Belfast carrying the usual outsider preconceptions, and the work of making the show became inseparable from the work of unlearning them.
- The drama's weekly release rhythm has created a shared, unfolding experience for viewers — one Osho actively protects by moderating spoilers on her own social media.
- Her character Sandra moves across the entire station rather than staying within a single squad, and Osho wants the second series to press deeper into what Sandra carries beneath her professional surface.
- The renewal arrives with creative momentum intact — her co-star Richard Dormer brings an actor's obsession with invisible backstory, including two dogs that never appear on screen but quietly anchor everything.
As Belfast continues to rewrite its own story, a television drama has become one of the more unexpected vehicles for that rewriting. Blue Lights, a BBC police series set in the city's present rather than its painful past, has earned a second series — and actress Andi Osho, who plays custody sergeant Sandra, returns to a city she is still learning to know. The show's quiet ambition is not merely to entertain but to offer Belfast the chance to be seen as it is, not as the world imagines it to be.
The final episode of Blue Lights airs Monday, and Andi Osho is already thinking about what comes next. The BBC police drama has been confirmed for a second series, and Osho — who plays Sandra, the custody sergeant married to Richard Dormer's character Gerry — will return to Belfast to continue the work.
This is her second time in the city. She previously appeared in Line of Duty, but the first run of Blue Lights, filmed partly under Covid restrictions, left her wanting more time to simply know the place. Sandra drew her in because of the character's contradictions — strong but vulnerable, moving through the whole station rather than confined to one corner of it. Osho hopes the second series will reveal more of what lies beneath Sandra's professional composure.
Working with Dormer has deepened that process. He is, she says, full of ideas — the kind of actor who wants to build the invisible architecture of a relationship, including details, like a pair of dogs, that never make it into scenes but quietly inform everything the actors do.
The show has found an audience that chooses to watch it episode by episode, and Osho has become careful about protecting that experience, moderating comments on her Facebook to shield those still making their way through the story.
The deeper conversation around Blue Lights, though, is about Belfast itself. Creator Declan Lawn describes it as coming 'from Belfast, rather than about it,' and Osho embraces that distinction. She came to the role with the usual outsider preconceptions and found that making the show required genuine research — learning the city's history and present in enough detail to ask the right questions on set. The comparison she reaches for is The Wire: a show that says, look at where things actually are, not where you imagine them to be. 'Belfast isn't what it was,' she says, 'and being able to share that is really powerful.'
Before acting, Osho worked in post-production and spent years doing stand-up comedy. She hasn't performed stand-up in about six or seven years, but the comic impulse hasn't left her — it has simply migrated into her writing. A second book, Tough Crowd, arrives this summer.
The final episode of Blue Lights arrives Monday night, and Andi Osho is already thinking about what comes next. The BBC police drama, created by Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, has secured a second series—a vote of confidence that arrived just as the first season's six episodes were drawing to a close. Osho, who plays Sandra, the custody sergeant at the heart of the station and wife to Richard Dormer's character Gerry, will return to Belfast to continue the work.
This is Osho's second time in the city. She appeared in the sixth season of Line of Duty as journalist Gail Vella, whose murder investigation formed part of Operation Lighthouse. But the first run of Blue Lights, filmed partly under Covid protocols, left her wanting more time to know the place. "I've got to know the city to a degree but not as much as I would have liked," she says. "It'd be nice to get to know the city a bit more now we're not under restrictions."
What drew her to Sandra was the character's complexity. She is strong, but flawed—the kind of role Osho gravitates toward. "I gravitate towards characters who work in the public services," she explains. "And then, I could really identify with her. She is strong, but she's got her vulnerabilities." Unlike some ensemble dramas where characters stay within their squads, Sandra moves through the station, interacting with all the officers. Osho hopes the second series will deepen that exploration, revealing more of what Sandra carries beneath her professional composure.
Working with Dormer has been part of that richness. He is, she says, "bursting with ideas," the kind of actor who wants to think through the invisible architecture of a relationship—how long they've been married, what their marriage feels like, even details like the two dogs that never make it into scenes but inform everything the actors do. "By the way, we've got two dogs, and that's never mentioned," she laughs. "It's coming up with a history that helps actors helps ground us completely in the characters."
The show itself has struck a chord with viewers. Social media fills with weekly reactions as people choose to watch episode by episode rather than binge the entire series at once. Osho has become attentive to this, carefully moderating comments on her Facebook to protect those still making their way through the story. "I want people to really experience the journey and let it unfold for them in the moment without them having thoughts and comments from other people sort of taking something away from that for them."
But the deeper conversation around Blue Lights concerns what the show is actually saying about Belfast itself. Osho came to the role with the usual preconceptions—shaped by headlines and news bulletins, the fragments that filter through to the wider world. Making the show required real research, learning the complexities of the city's history and present. She found herself in conversations with the creators about details that mattered: a colloquial term in a script, a question about who would know what. "Doing my research helps me to be able to make informed questions or be able to make informed comments as we're working, or decisions, choices, as an actor."
Creator Declan Lawn describes the show as coming "from Belfast, rather than about it." Osho embraces that distinction. "It's about sort of acknowledging the history but looking into the future and really sort of appreciating where it is today, rather than it being about the Troubles which are obviously significant historical moments that you know, we want to respect." The comparison that matters to her is The Wire—a show that says, look, this is where things are, not what you imagine them to be. "Belfast isn't what it was so being able to share it with people from the place of this is where it is, is really powerful and really eye opening."
Before acting, Osho worked in post-production, a background that gave her literacy on set—understanding the editing process, the terminology, what all those people around the actors are actually doing. She also spent years doing stand-up comedy in clubs and festivals across the UK, though she hasn't performed in about six or seven years. That impulse hasn't disappeared; it's migrated. She has published one book, Asking for a Friend, with a second, Tough Crowd, coming in the summer. "Anything funny, I think of, basically they end up in the books now," she says. "It's still important to me, I like to laugh and I think of funny things but I don't want to necessarily be performing it."
The final episode airs Monday at 9pm on BBC One, with all episodes available on BBC iPlayer.
Notable Quotes
It's from Belfast, rather than about it—acknowledging the history but looking into the future and appreciating where it is today— Andi Osho, paraphrasing creator Declan Lawn's vision for the show
I gravitate towards characters who work in the public services. She is strong, but she's got her vulnerabilities.— Andi Osho, on why she was drawn to playing Sandra
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