Scott and Bailey - series two

March 15th 2012

For some reason the first series of Scott and Bailey, the Manchester based crime drama focusing on two female detectives, passed me by, which is strange as both of its lead actresses  have been in Doctor Who, something which is usually enough to make me watch anything. Perhaps ITV had put me off by promoting it as “fearless and feminine”, as the continuity announcer rather bizarrely described the second series, which began on Monday.

The show is indeed feminine, not only due to the titular characters (played by Lesley Sharp and Suranne Jones) and their boss, DCI Gill Murray (Amelia Bullmore - not Doctor Who alumni but good nonetheless), but also the general women-driven vibe of the show, what with it having been created as a reaction to the lack of lead female roles on TV. Such a series can only be a positive force in my eyes, and it was certainly refreshing to see relatable female characters who don’t exist merely as an addendum to their husband or boyfriend.

The series opened with the team embarking on a murder investigation after the discovery of a couple of burnt bodies, which later evolved into a torture case, as both victims had been stabbed repeatedly with a screwdriver. Lovely. And Lisa Riley, of You’ve Been Framed fame, is somehow involved, which is always a bonus. But the real focus is on the characters’ home lives, with DC Scott attempting to calm the tensions between her mother and husband after the former moves in, and DC Bailey trying to cope with the arrival of her brother, who it turns out is a convicted armed robber, which is going to be major awkward at any office parties.

This emphasis on the characters’ personal lives, believable in a way that other shows rarely manage (I often wonder how some police put in a solid day at work, the amount of philandering and drinking they have to squeeze in), makes the premise of the show wonderfully innovative. It also means that it doesn’t have to rely on a ‘crime of the week’ to keep audience interest piqued, allowing us to invest just as much in Scott and Bailey themselves. And, surprisingly for a show that features screwdriver torture, it is very funny.

Unfortunately it very much carried the whiff of an established drama, and offered little by way of exposition for latecomers like me. As such I was somewhat disappointed not to see more of the dynamic to live up to the tagline of “best friends, better policemen”. This isn’t to the detriment of the show – Sharp and Jones are immensely likeable, but for those of us trying to jump on the bandwagon it was a little frustrating not to get to see more of their chemistry. But really, the only complaints I had about the show were to do with the fact that I had missed the first series, and that seems to be a good indicator of how gripping Scott and Bailey is.