Gerry’s shock return to Blue Lights after season 1 death ‘will give fans closure’

Gerry’s back in Blue Lights reveals Andi Osho (Picture: BBC/Two Cities Television)

‘I could tell that it was good. It’s just a matter of if our audience is going to pick up on that,’ says Andi Osho, remembering the first time she read the Blue Lights script.

The Belfast-based police drama quietly launched on BBC One back in 2023 but by the end of its first series had already become a hefty juggernaut in a crowded landscape, following a team of rookie cops as they become embedded in the perilous Blackthorn Police.

It’s already won a Bafta, has become more popular with each series and was the perfect antidote for those in mourning for the end of Line of Duty.

But Andi, who stars as custody sergeant Sandra, remembers when she knew it had become the hit it deserves to be.

‘I was tracking the responses to Gerry’s death, and almost every comment under a social media post was “Why did they do it?” Gerry meant something to people, which means the show meant something,’ she told Metro.

Gerry Cliff was the pillar of Blackthorn and immediately became a fan favourite; he was strong but affable, charming but steely too. His love for his wife Sandra was one of the rare great romances that felt both out of this world and so real at the same time.

Andi Osho knew Blue Lights would be good when she first read the script (Picture: BBC/Two Cities Television)

But as quickly as Blue Lights fans fell in love with Gerry, he became the show’s first casualty, shot and killed during an ambush, dying in the arms of fledgling new officer, Jen.

Two more series have passed, and still, the mourning for Gerry has barely healed, both on and off screen. However, earlier this year it was confirmed Richard Dormer would be returning as Gerry, with Andi exclusively revealing new details of his ‘emotional’ comeback this series.

Sandra is very much front and centre of series four as Mo McIntyre finally stands trial for Gerry’s murder. ‘It takes an emotional toll on her, that’s all I can say,’ Andi says.

But with Gerry being such a prominent part of Blue Lights again, Richard was invited back for a special episode returning to Gerry and Sandra’s origin story.

‘It was amazing to reunite with Richard but also very emotional’ (Picture: BBC/Two Cities Television)

‘It was amazing to reunite with Richard but also very emotional because I have been relating to that face as somebody who’s dead,’ says Andi.

‘Sandra’s been in a different state of mourning since season one, so each series I’m re-processing the sadness of losing my husband, and I haven’t seen Richard since then. On the sofa when we had rehearsals, I just I was quite emotional with it because it’s just like back from the dead.

‘I was shocked myself by how strongly I felt, but it was brilliant.

‘Richard’s a really fascinating actor to watch; he’s so full of ideas and is constantly thinking in terms of what he can bring to the role to make that character feel real, and hopefully that will translate to the audience. He was always looking for a way to ground Gerry and make him feel real.’

Andi, who stars as custody sergeant Sandra (Picture: Two Cities Television/BBC/PA Wire)

Whatever his magic, it worked. He was adored by fans far more than anyone could have possibly imagined, including Andi.

‘Obviously, Richard’s amazing, and Gerry was such a charismatic character, but you don’t necessarily imagine that they’re going to live in the audience’s heart quite in that same way,’ she says.

‘His death left people incomplete, and so bringing him back feels like that’s given people closure because how people feel about him just has not gone away. People always still comment, “I still haven’t forgiven them for Gerry.”’

Gerry’s return comes midway through the new series, and will no doubt be a seismic moment and one that Andi doesn’t take for granted.

Gerry’s return will be seismic (Picture: Caz Conboy)

‘It was an honour that the team trusted me with something like this because you never know. They may feel like, “Oh, we’d love to do this with her, but we don’t feel she’s up to it.”

‘But also for me, it was a new experience to play somebody falling in love. I’ve never done that, and… I don’t think the writers were intending to be political with that, but as a Black woman of a certain age, you don’t get to play things like this on British TV very often.

‘Often the roles that I play are characters who are defined by their jobs, and that’s where Sandra started off, but what they’ve done in this season is allowed me to explore what it is like to just be in a relationship, and Sandra’s job as a police officer isn’t the most important thing.

‘It’s this person in front of her that she thinks that she adores.’

Blue Lights returns tonight at 9pm on BBC One.

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