''Suspects'' is a British

police procedural The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agency, law enforcement agencies ...

television series that aired on Channel 5 from 12 February 2014 to 31 August 2016. The series follows members of the Metropolitan Police as they investigate murders, assaults, and other crimes across London. 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 Brownall House the former Tower Hamlets Council offices on Cambridge Heath Road, London. The building exterior also features in ITV's comedy series ''

The Job Lot ''The Job Lot'' is a British sitcom. The series is set in a busy West Midlands Job Centre, and focuses on the relationships between the staff, and the jobseekers. The series was commissioned following a successful pilot, written by Claire Do ...

''.

Premise

Set in a London police station, ''Suspects'' follows DI Martha Bellamy, DS Jack Weston, and DC Charlie Steele in their investigations of crimes across London. Each episode features a different case, including murders, attempted murders, missing persons, drug overdoses, child abuse, and sex crimes. While sequential episodes do not follow a

story arc A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of a plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing narrative, storyline in episode, episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strip ...

— each consisting of a standalone case — cases in series two and five are split across multiple episodes. As such, episodes generally focus on the details of the case at hand rather than the private lives of the investigators.

Cast

Fay Ripley Fay Ripley (born 26 February 1966)Ripley, Fay (25 February 2011).Don't tell me you are going to get my followers up to 5,000 for my birthday tomorrow...I say my birthday tomorrow. Twitter. Retrieved 26 February 2011. is an English actress, telev ...

as Detective Inspector Martha Bellamy (Series 1—4) * Damien Molony as Detective Sergeant Jack Weston (Series 1—5) *

Clare-Hope Ashitey Clare-Hope Ashitey (born 12 February 1987) is a British actress. She attended the Centre Stage School of Performing Arts, Southgate, London, Southgate while being educated at The Latymer School, in the Edmonton, London, Edmonton area of London, ...

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 Vauxhall ( , ) is an area of South London, within the London Borough of Lambeth. Named after a medieval manor called Fox Hall, it became well known for the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. From the Victorian period until the mid-20th century, Vauxh ...

as CID James Tanner (Series 1) *

Jack Greenlees Jack Greenlees is a Scottish actor, known for his roles as Craig Cooper in the BBC One Scottish crime drama television series ''Shetland'' (2016), as Justice Stuart Knox in the British-American period drama television series '' Harlots'' (2019) ...

as Justin Marecroft (Series 1-2)

Production

Unlike most police procedural television series, actors improvised their dialogue from scene to scene based on

characterisation Characterization or characterisation is the representation of characters (persons, creatures, or other beings) in narrative and dramatic works. The term character development is sometimes used as a synonym. This representation may include dire ...

and a detailed plot description rather than a rehearsed script. The main cast's characterisation process included a police workshop with a retired police officer, where they learned interview techniques, police terminologies and general day-to-day lingo. Improvised dialogue and fly on the wall filming were employed to facilitate genuine character reactions and make investigations appear realistic. Shooting time was limited to two and a half days per episode, leaving only 18 minutes on average for the filming of each scene.

Episodes

Series 1 (2014)

The first series, consisting of five episodes, aired from 12 February to 12 March 2014 and was subsequently released on DVD on 1 September 2014.

Series 2 (2014)

The second series aired from 20 August to 28 August 2014. It consists of two 2-part stories, each originally aired on consecutive days in the same week.

Series 3 (2015)

The third series, consisting of four episodes, aired from 13 January to 21 January 2015.

Series 4 (2015)

The fourth series, consisting of four episodes, aired from 25 November to 16 December 2015.

Series 5 (2016)

The fifth and final series, consisting of six episodes, aired from 3 August 2016 to 31 August 2016. Main cast member

was unable to reprise her role as DI Martha Bellamy due to her filming commitments for the new series of ''

Cold Feet ''Cold Feet'' is a British comedy-drama television series produced by Granada Television for the ITV (TV network), ITV network. The series was created and principally written by Mike Bullen as a follow-up to his 1997 Comedy Premieres, Comedy ...

''. Because of this, her character, Bellamy, is found dead in the first episode of the series, having been fatally shot. Three new cast members were introduced to the main cast with the initial premise of investigating her murder:

as DS Alisha Brooks, James Murray as DCI Daniel Drummond, and Perry Fitzpatrick as TDC Gary Roscoe. Unlike prior seasons, all six episodes focus on an ongoing story arc 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 produced the remake for

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

. 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
{{Refend 2014 British television series debuts 2016 British television series endings 2010s British police procedural television series Channel 5 (British TV channel) television dramas British English-language television shows Television series by Fremantle (company) British detective television series Television shows set in London