''Suspects'' is a British

police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eit ...

television series first aired on Channel 5 from 12 February 2014 to 31 August 2016. Set in London, the series follows DS Jack Weston, DC Charlie Steele and their senior DI Martha Bellamy of the Greater London Police while they investigate different types of cases. Their cases include murders, attempted murders, missing people, drug overdoses, child abuse, and sex crimes. Most of the show's dialogue is improvised in order to make it seem natural. The actors have a detailed story document and perform from there. The show is filmed within the former London Electricity Building on Cambridge Heath Road, London. The building doubles as Brownall House which features in ITV's comedy series '' The Job Lot''.

Overview

''Suspects'' is set in a London police station. DS Jack Weston, DC Charlie Steele and DI Martha Bellamy investigate murder cases, missing person's reports, drug overdoses etc. Within every episode a crime is solved in a documentary style. For the second series the concept of the series was changed, so that cases are not resolved in a single episode. The actors don't have a script. The plot is described roughly, and actors improvise the dialogue and their reactions. Through this production style the series should be more realistic and investigative. The series hardly deals with the private lives of the investigators, it is about the police work. An episode is shot within two and a half days, which means that one scene is filmed within only 18 minutes. The main cast prepared for the series by taking a police workshop with a retired police officer for several weeks. They learned interview techniques, police terminologies and general day-to-day lingo.

Cast

* Fay Ripley as Detective Inspector Martha Bellamy (Series 1—4) *

Damien Molony Damien Molony (born 21 February 1984) is an Irish actor. He is best known for his television roles as Hal Yorke in BBC Three's '' Being Human'', DC Albert Flight in the BBC's ''Ripper Street'', DS Jack Weston in Channel 5's '' Suspects'', Jon ...

as Detective Sergeant Jack Weston (Series 1—5) *

Clare-Hope Ashitey Clare-Hope Ashitey (born 12 February 1987) is an English actress. She attended the Centre Stage School of Performing Arts, Southgate while being educated at The Latymer School, located in the Edmonton area of London, for seven years. She too ...

as Detective Constable Charlotte "Charlie" Steele (Series 1—5) *

Lenora Crichlow Lenora Isabella Crichlow (born 4 January 1985) is a British actress. She became known for her starring roles as Maria "Sugar" Sweet in the Channel 4 comedy-drama series '' Sugar Rush'', Annie Sawyer in the BBC Three supernatural drama series '' ...

as Detective Sergeant/Inspector Alisha Brooks (Series 5) * Perry Fitzpatrick as Trainee/Detective Constable Gary Roscoe (Series 5) * James Murray as Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Drummond (Series 5) * Vauxhall Jermaine as CID James Tanner (Series 1) * Jack Greenlees as Justin Marecroft (Series 1-2)

Episodes

Series 1 (2014)

The complete first series was released on DVD on 1 September 2014.

Series 2 (2014)

The second series consisted of 4 episodes, arranged as two 2-part stories, with each story being originally shown on consecutive days in the same week.

Series 3 (2015)

A third series aired in January 2015.

Series 4 (2015)

A fourth series began broadcasting weekly on Wednesday 25 November 2015. It consists of four stand-alone episodes.

Series 5 (2016)

A fifth series of the show aired in 2016 without main cast member Fay Ripley, who, due to her filming commitments for the new series of ''

Cold Feet Cold feet is a phrase that refers to a person not going through with an action, particularly one which requires long term commitment, due to fear, uncertainty, and doubt. A person is said to be "getting cold feet" when, after previously committin ...

'', was unable to reprise her role as DI Martha Bellamy. Bellamy is found dead, having been fatally shot, in the first episode of the series. Three new cast members were introduced to the main cast with the initial premise of investigating her murder.

stars as DS Alisha Brooks, James Murray stars as DCI Daniel Drummond, and Perry Fitzpatrick stars as TDC Gary Roscoe. For the first time in the series history, all six episodes focus on one ongoing story, entitled ''The Enemy Within''.

Dutch and German Remakes

In October 2016 it was announced that ''Suspects'' would be getting a German remake. The company UFA will produce the remake for

RTL Television RTL (from '), formerly RTL plus and RTL Television, is a German-language free-to-air television channel owned by the RTL Group, headquartered in Cologne. Founded as an offshoot of the German-language radio programme '' ,'' RTL is consider ...

. In March 2017 a Dutch remake of Suspects was released in the Netherlands on Videoland, produced for RTL Netherlands.

References

External links

* *
''Suspects''
at Channel5.com * ''The Telegraph''
Suspects is a home-grown drama of note
* ''Express''
The latest suspects to tackle a police show: New drama challenges old format
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suspects 2014 British television series debuts 2016 British television series endings 2010s British police procedural television series Channel 5 (British TV channel) original programming English-language television shows Television series by Fremantle (company) British detective television series Television shows set in London