ianlouisiana Review of No Offence

No Offence (I) (2015–2018)

Audacious.Extraordinary..A jolt in today's "no offence" society

[10/10 · 6 May 2015]

"No offence" has been marketed as a comedy and if taken as such,I can imagine it might well cause offence as it is as bloody and in - your - face as inner - city police work is in real life,with grim and bitter humour providing relief for the coppers whose job it is to cope with the madness and desperation that is abroad in 21st century England's green and pleasant land.And in Manchester. Imagine "Scott and Bailey" on steroids. Refreshingly free from the usual macho bullsh*t that cop show writers seem to think is obligatory,"No offence" centres round three women detectives,two of whom are smart,tough and clever and one of whom is clever but not smart enough to know that cleverness isn't enough in what is still predominantly a man's world. The first episode starts off with an extraordinary sequence where an off - duty woman detective spots a wanted man and chases him.In attempting to escape he is hit by a coach that runs over his head. Horror -stricken she leaves the scene,hoping no one had seen her. This is a straight if beefed - up steal from "Scott and Bailey",but "hommage" is a perfectly acceptable device providing it is not over - used e.g "The delivery man" slavishly following in "Green Wing"'s footsteps. Unfortunately for her,the uber - tough DI has found CCTV footage of the accident and recognises her. They reach a deal where the DC withdraws her application for DS and the DI forgets to recognise her best officer on telly. The plot revolves around a killer apparently specialising in women with Down's Syndrome,a theory that is so politically incorrect in today's "no offence" society that it is a reality check,an intrusion by the real world into the comfortable and often smug world of the middle - class sensibilities that have prevailed for years in the media. A young girl leaving the A&E dept with facial injuries is mistaken for a Down syndrome sufferer and kidnapped. Redeeming herself,the DC tracks her down and jumps into a freezing, open sewer of a river where the girl has been dumped still alive and wrapped in plastic,and pulls her out. There are no easy solutions in "no offence",i's are not dotted nor t's crossed at every turn.The coppers are often vulgar,dirty - mouthed and intolerant - just like in real life.But,as in real life,they hang together lest they be hanged separately. There is also a wonderful coppers' joke about a woman killed in an RTA whilst performing some sort of sexual congress with her Jack Russell terrier.No offence. This is a police world I recognise after having served over 30 ,years in the Met.Just the accents are different.No offence.