‘Look out, guys, we’ve been spotted,” says our driver, raising his right arm to conceal his face as he steers. “That guy’s a known face in organised crime. We need to get out of here.” As we speed out of a north Belfast estate, he checks the rearview mirror. The pedestrian who spooked him is snapping our departing car with his phone. Once we’re safely out of view, our driver breathes a sigh of relief. “That was a close call. I didn’t mean to scare you but that was a bad boy. And he was definitely taking an interest in us.”
As part of our exclusive visit to the set of Blue Lights – which is about to roar back on to BBC One, sirens blazing and bulbs flashing – the show’s creators and police adviser have invited us on a ride-along around some of the locations that inspired the Bafta-winning drama. It’s the first time they’ve taken a journalist on such a trip and nobody’s treating it lightly.
