Bloodlands is a police procedural television series set in Northern Ireland that premiered on BBC One on 21 February 2021. It was created by Chris Brandon and developed by HTM Television,[1] a joint venture between Hat Trick Productions and the producer Jed Mercurio.[2][3][4][5][6] The show was renewed for a second series on 14 March 2021,[7] with filming commencing in February 2022.[8]
The review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes gave the series an 83% approval rating, with an average rating of 6.9/10, based on 24 reviews. The critical consensus reads, "Bloodlands at times threatens to buckle under the weight of its heavy load, but thrilling twists and incredible performances hold steady to create an engaging, challenging viewing experience.”[18] On Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 based on 9 reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews”.[18]
Abby Robinson, reviewing for Digital Spy, described the opening episode of the drama as "heavily plot-driven, which comes at the expense of character developments" and gave it three out of five.[19] Lucy Mangan of The Guardian, described the drama as "enjoyably dense with enough black humour to let it breathe" and gave it four out of five.[20] Ed Power said the first episode of the series was "So grim – and a seriously bad advertisement for a weekend break in Belfast" when reviewing on behalf of The Irish Times,[21] and Lauren Morris, reviewing on behalf of the Radio Times called it "An unpredictable thriller with all the hallmarks of a Jed Mercurio drama".[22]
