We need say no more than that this is penned by Paul Abbott, who wrote 'Shameless', for it to be clear that the title is ironic. It's a comedy drama about a police team, and episode one throws caution to the wind and irreverence towards police, criminals, victims with learning difficulties, people with physical disabilities.... It has some funny moments, but at the moment is an uneasy, fairly queasy mix of serious storylines (prostitution, kidnapping, attempted murder) and the comedy of human selfishness and folly. We remember Abbott wringing laughs from a man with Tourettes Syndrome with discomfort... but then again, the 90s US sitcom 'Seinfeld' regularly induced guilty laughter at the extreme awfulness of its central characters.
This does have Abbott's verve, his knack for the unexpected and the sharp line, and a great cast, so at the very least it's a nice change of pace from cop procedurals or slapstick sitcoms, and it could turn out to be much more... though not, as the title theme suggests, 'Breaking Bad'.
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