Review: No Offence, season 3

Joanna Scanlan in No Offence

No Offence, the British series about a group of Manchester police, has the police facing the loss of one of their own in season3. She was a favorite of mine as well. Big spoiler ahead.

Joy Freers (Alexandra Roach) is killed in the first episode of the season. She was a central character in the first two seasons. The officers in the station come together in a frantic race to bring her killer to justice for the remaining episodes of the season.

The team blames a group of right wing actors for the murder. The other important story thread in season 3 is the very young, newly elected mayor Caroline McCoy (Lisa McGrillis).

Elaine Cassidy in No Offence
Dinah up to her unorthodox tricks

DI Vivienne Deering (Joanna Scanlan) is still in charge. She’s still outrageous and never plays by the book. She appoints Dinah Kowalska (Elaine Cassidy) as Sargeant to replace Joy. Since Dinah doesn’t play by the rules either, the team has two wild cards at the top. They do some unexpected things in their effort to find the person to blame for Joy.

They’re after a bad guy named Beckett (Darren Connolly), but the writers of this series always surprise you, and the bad guys aren’t always who you think they are.

Will Mellor is still on the team as Spike. Saira Choudhry as Tegan has a bigger role in season 3. She’s partners with Stuart (Tom Varey) again. Paul Ritter as Miller, the forensics expert, is crucial as always.

Tamara Lawrance and Sharon Rooney in No Offence
Bonnie and Faye (Sharon Rooney) antagonize the police at a staged riot.

There were other new faces in No Offence this year. Tamara Lawrance plays Bonnie Sands. Bonnie Sands is one of the more complex characters in this season – an interesting and surprising woman. Neil Maskell plays Caddy, one of the right wing bad guys. DCI Terry Taylor (Nigel Lindsay) is the Mayor’s mole in the department. Everyone hates him – he’s a racist and he has B.O.

Claire Rushbrook in No Offence
If DCI Marchant moves in next door to Viv Deering, can she control her then? Doubtful!

Perhaps the most important new face was DCI Marilyn Marchant (Claire Rushbrook), who, like everyone sent in to supervise Viv Deering, finds the job impossible.

We don’t see much into the characters personal lives this season, since everyone is obsessed with finding justice for Joy. The entire 6 episodes take place in just a few days. I missed that time away from the police station with the characters, but season 3 had a very specific goal and timeline.

The latest news I can find about a season 4 is still uncertain. It depends on ratings, according to this article. In the U.S., No Offence streams on Acorn TV, so if you’re a fan of the series go up the count of watchers by watching it soon.

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