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Protection… Witness Protection…
That’s the name of the game in this new 6-part ITV cop drama, where DI Liz Nyles (Siobhan Finneran – Apostasy) is dealing with a case where Jimmy McLennan (Kris Hitchen – Sorry We Missed You) is testifying in two days for a situation no-one’s yet explained, but this will most likely require him, plus wife and daughter Helen (Catherine Tyldesley – The Good Ship Murder) and Amy (Tilly Kaye), respectively, having to all go into… well, you saw the name of the title, already.
It’s also one of those dramas where the protagonist is given a complicated home life, in this case, her Dad, Sid (David Hayman – Fisherman’s Friends 2: One and All), is suffering from dementia, although he does see the wry side when she’s trying to lengthen his life by stopping him do all those things that we actually enjoy, even if they’re not particularly good for us.
Amongst accusations of police corruption – leading me to wonder will Line of Duty’s AC12 get on the case? (And when’s that coming back?), DCI Hannah Wheatley (Katherine Kelly – The Long Shadow) is sniffing around, and wanting to interview Amy, even though she’s only 12.
Protection has previously been shown on Britbox in the USA, and that’s from where I’ve sourced this, so I’m avoiding spoilers since it hasn’t yet aired in the UK, but it does use an awful lot of tropes that I’ve seen used before.
To that end, there’s a rather ridiculous situation in the opener which I won’t spoil, but as one character puts it, “Talk about bringing your work home with you“, and it’s something I have seen done in one or two other dramas, and I’m sure nothing that would actually happen in real life.
I’ve only seen the first episode so far, but it’s incredibly slow moving, even though there’s a major situation to deal with. I will try a second episode, though, and at this point, even though it’ll probably all be available from day one online, it airs on Sundays and Mondays each week for the six episodes in total.
Protection begins tomorrow night on ITV at 9pm, and will then be available to stream on ITVX.
It’s not yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but when it is, it will be listed on the New DVD, Blu-ray, 3D and 4K releases UK page.
Series Directors: Simen Alsvik, Sasha Ransome
Producer: Rebecca Davies
Creators: Kris Mrksa, Gary Madden
Writers: Kris Mrksa, Polly Buckle, Giula Sandler
Music: Dominik Scherrer
Cast:
DI Liz Nyles: Siobhan Finneran
DS Paul Brandice: Barry Ward
DCI Amanda Kelman: Nadine Marshall
DS Raj Kholi: Chaneil Kular
DCI Hannah Wheatley: Katherine Kelly
Sid Nyles: David Hayman
Eddie Crowther: Alec Newman
DI Tommy Jardine: Tom Christian
DS Sue Beardsley: Akia Henry
DI Richard Bewley: Andrew Knott
DS Tania Tomasic: Laura Dos Santos
DCI Arun Kapoor: Ace Bhatti
Gemma Brandice: Nichola Burley
Helen McLennan: Catherine Tyldesley
Jimmy McLennan: Kris Hitchen
Amy McLennan: Tilly Kaye
DS Rachel Gordon: Charlotte Mills
Irene Kim: Naomi Yang
John Gibson: Jonathan Cake
Assistant Chief Inspector Rory Davenport: Ian Pirie
Rezan Crowther: Zora Bishop
DC Noel Taylor: Syrus Lowe
Freddie Howard: Nick Moss
Jasmine Howard: Jodie Price
Elliot Hughes: Joseph Millson
ITV Granada Reports Newsreader: Ann O’Connor
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.