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Bloodlands
Series 1 DVD cover
Genre	Crime Drama
Created by	Chris Brandon
Written by	Chris Brandon
Directed by	Pete Travis Jon East Audrey Cook
Starring	James Nesbitt Lorcan Cranitch Lisa Dwan Ian McElhinney Charlene McKenna Lola Petticrew Michael Smiley Chris Walley
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	10
Production
Executive producers	Jed Mercurio (HTM) Jimmy Mulville (HTM) Mark Redhead (HTM) Tommy Bulfin (BBC) Tom Lazenby (BBC)
Producer	Christopher Hall
Production location	Northern Ireland
Running time	57 minutes
Production company	HTM Television
Original release
Network	BBC One
Release	21 February 2021 (2021-02-21) – 23 October 2022 (2022-10-23)

Bloodlands is a police procedural television series set in Northern Ireland that premiered on BBC One on 21 February 2021. It was created by Chris Brandon and developed by HTM Television, a joint venture between Hat Trick Productions and the producer Jed Mercurio. The show was renewed for a second series on 14 March 2021, with filming commencing in February 2022.

Bloodlands was filmed mainly in the rural area around Strangford Lough in the east of Northern Ireland.

Cast

• James Nesbitt as DCI Tom Brannick
• Lorcan Cranitch as DCS Jackie Twomey
• Charlene McKenna as DS Niamh McGovern
• Chris Walley as DC Billy “Birdy” Bird
• Lola Petticrew as Izzy Brannick

Series 1

• Michael Smiley as Justin “Dinger” Bell
• Susan Lynch as DCI Heather Pentland
• Ian McElhinney as Adam Corry
• Lisa Dwan as Tori Matthews
• Peter Ballance as Patrick Keenan
• Kathy Kiera Clarke as Claire Keenan
• Cara Kelly as Siobhan Harkin
• Caolan Byrne as Ben McFarland
• Valerie Lilley as Linda Corry

Series 2

• Victoria Smurfit as Olivia Foyle
• Diarmaid Murtagh as Robert Dardis
• Jonjo O'Neill as Ryan Savage

Reception

Reviews

The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the series an 83% approval rating, with an average rating of 6.9/10, based on 24 reviews. The critical consensus reads, "Bloodlands at times threatens to buckle under the weight of its heavy load, but thrilling twists and incredible performances hold steady to create an engaging, challenging viewing experience.” On Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 based on 9 reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews”.

Abby Robinson, reviewing for Digital Spy, described the opening episode of the drama as "heavily plot-driven, which comes at the expense of character developments" and gave it three out of five. Lucy Mangan of The Guardian, described the drama as "enjoyably dense with enough black humour to let it breathe" and gave it four out of five. Ed Power said the first episode of the series was "So grim – and a seriously bad advertisement for a weekend break in Belfast" when reviewing on behalf of The Irish Times, and Lauren Morris, reviewing on behalf of the Radio Times called it "An unpredictable thriller with all the hallmarks of a Jed Mercurio drama".

Awards and nominations

Episodes

Series overview

Series 1 (2021)

Series 2 (2022)

Broadcast

Series 1 was streamed on Acorn TV in the United States and Canada in 2021. Series 2 was streamed on Acorn TV in February 2023.

References

1. "Hat Trick Mercurio Ltd". Hat Trick Mercurio Ltd.
2. "Hat Trick Mercurio Ltd".
3. "'Bloodlands' from 'Bodyguard' Creator Jed Mercurio Renewed for Season 2 at BBC". 14 March 2021.
4. "Bloodlands". BBC Media Centre. Archived from the original on 16 March 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
5. "This week's home entertainment: from Bloodlands to Love, Victor". The Guardian. 19 February 2021. Archived from the original on 20 February 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
6. "Bloodlands: A thriller set in the so-called 'new Northern Ireland'". The Irish Times. 21 February 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
7. White, Peter (14 March 2021). "'Bloodlands' From 'Bodyguard' Creator Jed Mercurio Renewed For Season 2 At BBC". Deadline. Archived from the original on 14 March 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
8. "Filming begins on second series of BBC One's hit drama Bloodlands". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
9. "BBC crime drama Bloodlands starts filming in Northern Ireland". BBC. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
10. "Bloodlands: Island in BBC crime thriller will remain a secret to keep tourists away". The Telegraph. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
11. "Bloodlands: location of BBC drama kept secret to avoid tourist influx". The Guardian. 20 February 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
12. "Meet the cast of Jed Mercurio crime thriller Bloodlands". Radio Times. 17 February 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
13. "Bloodlands: Cast of new Northern Ireland crime thriller and where you know them from, 17 February 2021". BelfastLive. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
14. "Bloodlands is "a classic Jed Mercurio thriller", promises James Nesbitt". Radio Times. 9 February 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
15. "Bloodlands' James Nesbitt "galled" never to have been considered for Line of Duty by Jed Mercurio, 15 February 2021". Radio Times. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
16. "Bloodlands actor Lorcan Cranitch on filming crime drama in Northern Ireland". Belfast Telegraph. 20 February 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
17. "Bloodlands star Charlene McKenna says crime thriller should have viewers "screaming at the TV", 16 February 2021". Radio Times. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
18. ^ "Bloodlands". Rotten Tomatoes.
19. Robinson, Abby (21 February 2021). "Bloodlands review: Is the Line of Duty creator's new project Bloodlands a hit?". Digital Spy.
20. Mangan, Lucy (21 February 2021). "Bloodlands review: James Nesbitt digs up the Troubles in tense thriller". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
21. Power, Ed (21 February 2021). "Bloodlands review: So grim – and a seriously bad advertisement for a weekend break in Belfast". Retrieved 22 February 2021.
22. Morris, Lauren (21 February 2021). "Bloodlands review: An unpredictable thriller with all the hallmarks of a Jed Mercurio drama". Radio Times. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
23. "Irish Film and Television Awards – 2021". Irish Film and Television Awards. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
24. "Satellite Awards – 2021". International Press Academy. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
25. ^ "BARB 7-Day viewing data". BARB.
26. "Bloodlands - Episode 1, 21 February 2021". BBC. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
27. "Weekly top programmes on four screens (from Sept 2018)". BARB. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
28. "Bloodlands - Episode 2, 28 February 2021". BBC. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
29. "Bloodlands - Episode 3, 7 March 2021". BBC. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
30. "Bloodlands - Episode 4, 14 March 2021". BBC. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
31. "Bloodlands - Episode 1, 18 September 2022". BBC. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
32. "Weekly top programmes on four screens (from 12 Sep 2022 - 18 Sep 2022)". BARB. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
33. "Bloodlands - Episode 2, 25 September 2022". BBC. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
34. "Weekly top programmes on four screens (from 19 Sep 2022 - 25 Sep 2022)". BARB. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
35. "Bloodlands - Episode 3, 2 October 2022". BBC. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
36. "Weekly top programmes on four screens (from 26 Sep 2022 - 02 Oct 2022)". BARB. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
37. "Bloodlands - Episode 4, 9 October 2022". BBC. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
38. "Bloodlands - Episode 5, 16 October 2022". BBC. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
39. "Bloodlands - Episode 6, 23 October 2022". BBC. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
40. "Gritty Irish crime thriller 'Bloodlands' available on ACORN TV". Chicago Crusader. Crusader Newspaper Group. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
41. Hutson, Stefanie (28 January 2023). "Bloodlands, Season 2 Gets Premiere Date in the US". I Heart British TV.

External links

• Bloodlands at BBC Online
• Bloodlands at IMDb
• Bloodlands at epguides.com
• Bloodlands trailer from the BBC

• 2021 British television series debuts
• 2020s British crime drama television series
• 2022 British television series endings
• BBC crime drama television shows
• British English-language television shows
• Television series by Hat Trick Productions
• Television shows filmed in Northern Ireland
• Television shows set in Northern Ireland