After a brilliantly brutal opening, the third series of No Offence twists into something different as the team face off against the far-right
“We’ve all led each other to each other”
The third series of No Offence started with a real bang as they kept us all on our toes by offing one of its lead characters. And though things calmed down considerably, the ongoing main story of Friday Street’s battle against the rising far-right threat offered an interesting spin for the series.
Paul Abbott’s writing always excels when it puts its characters in the forefront and it’s no different here. Dealing with grief (in their own inimitable way) only added to the portrayals, as Joanna Scanlan, Elaine Cassidy and Will Mellor all rose to the occasion, and it was great to see more of Paul Ritter’s maverick forensics guy.
By the same token, I was gutted that we only got comparatively little of supporting characters like Kate O’Flynn’s iconic psychologist Dr Peep and Nigel Lindsay’s hapless DCI, though Claire Rushbrook made a strong impression as the new Superintendent. And even if he didn’t have a lot to do, kudos for employing Phil Dunster.
Overall, the series did perhaps lack for a killer villain, simply due to the amazing work from Rakie Ayola last time round. The alternative take that we saw Lisa McGrillis and Patrick Baladi take did work well, but there wasn’t quite the same level of climactic energy at the end of the six episodes here. Still, No Offence remains an enjoyable watch and I hope that a fourth series is in the offing.
