“If you start running out of leads,” the detective in ITV’s new six-part drama, Protection, muses, “maybe you missed something right at the start.” It’s a philosophy of sleuthing that doesn’t seem to be shared by the British TV establishment, who mostly ran out of ideas a long time ago. And Protection is – from its inception – a retread of the most familiar beats of our vast police procedural landscape.
Down a suburban cul-de-sac, a seemingly normal family of three live in increasingly paranoid isolation. They are in witness protection, because the dad, Jimmy McLennan (Kris Hitchen), will imminently be testifying against crime lord Edward Crowther (Alec Newman). The McLennans’ temporary sanctuary is overseen by DI Liz Nyles (Siobhan Finneran), a specialist officer “firewalled” from the rest of the police to protect her charges’ identities. But on the eve of Jimmy’s court appearance a gunman slaughters the family – with only 13-year-old Amy (Tilly Kaye) surviving – and questions start being asked of DI Nyles. How did the ring of protection around the McLennans fail? And why was a police officer – who was also, rather inconveniently, Liz’s lover – in their house at the time of the attack?
