Black Ops (TV series)

Black Ops is a British television comedy series made for BBC One starring Hammed Animashaun, Gbemisola Ikumelo and Akemnji Ndifornyen. The latter two also being co-creators, writers and executive producers.[1] The first series aired in May 2023. A second series was commissioned in August 2023.[2]

Black Ops
Created by
Screenplay by
Directed byBen Gregor
Starring
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes6
Production
Executive producers
  • Gbemisola Ikumelo
  • Akemnji Ndifornyen
  • Josh Cole
  • Joe Tucker
  • Lloyd Woolf
ProducerAkemnji Ndifornyen
CinematographyLuke Palmer
EditorMark Williams
Production companies
Release
Original networkBBC One
Original release5 May 2023 (2023-05-05) –
present

Synopsis

In East London, Dom and Kay are two police community support officers who join the Greater London Police and find themselves working undercover.[3]

Cast

Episodes

Series 1 (2023)
No.
overall		No. in
series		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
11"Episode 1"Ben GregorJoe Tucker and Lloyd Woolf5 May 2023 (2023-05-05)
Police Community Support Officers Dominique and Kayodi find themselves recruited by Detective Inspector Clinton Blair to go undercover and infiltrate a gang dealing drugs on the Brightmarsh estate. To create a plausible cover story they get themselves fired and steal drugs the police have earmarked for incineration to resell on the estate. Having encroached on the gang's turf they are soon noticed and find themselves forcibly recruited by the gang. When tasked with burying a dead body they are shocked to find it is DI Blair.
22"Episode 2"Ben GregorGbemisola Ikumelo and Akemnji Ndifornyen5 May 2023 (2023-05-05)
Fearing their cover is blown, the duo start to dig, however they realise that DI Blair may have communicated the undercover operation to someone he trusted. They decide to remove the deceased's finger to unlock and search his mobile phone. Having ascertained his home address, they break in and find a dossier, but before they have a chance to leave, another uninvited visitor also gains entry. It is none other than Superintendent Edwards.
33"Episode 3"Ben GregorJoe Tucker and Lloyd Woolf5 May 2023 (2023-05-05)
The freshly dug grave is discovered by a group of schoolchildren. The duo come to the conclusion that the police are turning a blind eye to drug dealing on the estate. After being robbed of their drugs and with no chance of meeting the sales target the Brightmarsh estate gang have set them, Dom and Kay, resort to robbing the youth pastor's church fund. Dom realises that the messages on DI Blair's phone from Kirsty make her the most likely to be his trusted contact.
44"Episode 4"Ben GregorRacheal Ofori5 May 2023 (2023-05-05)
Dom and Kay meet Kirsty and break the news of Clinton Blair's death. Expecting help but finding none, they are led to believe that Kirsty was only a casual acquaintance of the dead officer. Superintendent Edwards announces the discovery of DI Blair's body to the press, adding that he had been under internal investigation by the anti-corruption unit. Dom and Kay break into Superintendent Edwards' office and search her diary for clues. They follow her to a nursing home where she visits an elderly lady, presumably her mother.
55"Episode 5"Ben GregorJoe Tucker and Lloyd Woolf5 May 2023 (2023-05-05)
Realising that the elderly lady was not Superintendent Edwards' mother, Dom and Kay decide to investigate further by volunteering at the care home. They discover the name of the lady as Celia Herrington and attempt to bug a conversation between her and Superintendent Edwards but fail to catch the part where Superintendent Edwards admits to involvement in the death of DI Blair and that she now wants out. Celia Herrington receives another visitor later who turns out to work for the Ministry of Defence.
66"Episode 6"Ben GregorJoe Tucker and Lloyd Woolf5 May 2023 (2023-05-05)
Superintendent Edwards is assassinated by a bogus delivery man and Dom and Kay are followed by the same group who attempt to eliminate them too. After the failed attempt on their lives, Celia Herrington contacts Dom and suggests a meeting with a view to making a trade for the dossier. At the meeting, Kay secures a confession from Celia and her Ministry of Defence contact whilst secretly recording it. With the dossier and recording in the safe hands of Kirsty, the truth is finally revealed and the Brightmarsh gang arrested. DI Blair's name is cleared and the duo find themselves reinstated as PCSOs.

Production

In August 2021 the BBC confirmed that the six-part comedy thriller series would be produced by BBC Studios and Mondo Deluxe for BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The creators were announced as Gbemisola Ikumelo, Akemnji Ndifornyen, Joe Tucker, and Lloyd Woolf; the show was commissioned by Tanya Qureshi with Akemnji Ndifornyen as producer and Josh Cole as executive producer.[4] The series is directed by Ben Gregor.[5]

Said to be both a comedy and a thriller, Ikuelmo told Deadline Hollywood that "I love that the lines have become so muddied. When it's dark, it's really dark and when it's comedic, it's really funny, and I love mixing the two and bending genres."[6]

In August 2023, it was commissioned for a second series.[7]

Casting

Hammed Animashaun, Gbemisola Ikumelo and Akemnji Ndifornyen are set to star in the series.[8] The cast also includes Ariyon Bakare, Joanna Scanlan, Robbie Gee, Jo Martin, and Felicity Montagu.[9]

Filming

Filming began in June 2022 in Luton.[10][11] Filming also took place in Waltham Forest.[12]

Music

Music for the show was completed by Lindsay Wright and Tawiah.[13]

Broadcast

Black Ops debuted in the UK on BBC One on 5 May 2023 at 9:30 pm with episodes airing weekly and being available immediately on BBC iPlayer.[14]

Critical Reception

Opinions about the first series were favourable overall despite many reviewers' initial reservations about finding humour in police racism and gang violence. The highest acclaim came from Rachel Aroesti of The Guardian, who gave the show five stars, calling it "pitch-perfect, star-packed joy" and that "Black Ops merges broad comedy with bent copper crime drama to hilarious and nail-biting effect".[15]

Benji Wilson of the Daily Telegraph awarded the show four stars and stated the series "gets it all rather joyously right" with the "a terrific pairing" in the lead roles who "ace it".[16]

Vicky Jessop writing for The Evening Standard gave Black Ops a three star review, opining that the "campy, farcical tone works in some areas [but not] in others" but "you can forgive it almost anything because, for the most part, this show is funny" and "there are more than enough gags to compensate".[17] Three star reviews were also awarded by Nick Hilton of The Independent[18] and Dan Einav of the Financial Times,[19] the former stating that "despite a clever title" the "police sitcom is charming enough, but it lacks bite."

References
  1. "Black Ops - Meet the cast and creators". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  2. "Hit BBC comedy Black Ops to return for a second series". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  3. "BBC One offers first look at comedy thriller Black Ops". The Irish News. 21 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  4. "Brand new comedy thriller series Black Ops is confirmed for BBC One and BBC iPlayer". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  5. Bedingham, Mike (22 April 2023). "BBC One offers first look at comedy thriller Black Ops". Evening Standard. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  6. Goldbart, Max (27 February 2023). "'Black Ops': Creators of BBC Comedy-Thriller Say Black British Culture Is "Reaching a Sweet Spot"". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  7. Ramachandran, Naman (25 August 2023). "Happy Valley' Creator Sally Wainwright, Jenna Coleman, Nicôle Lecky, Sacha Dhawan Series Set at BBC". Variety. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  8. Cottrell, Imani (15 June 2021). "BBC announces new comedy thriller Black Ops". rts.org. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  9. "Black Ops". Comedy.Co.Uk. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  10. "Gbemisola Ikumelo, Hammed Animashaun and Akemnji Ndifornyen to lead Black Ops". bbc.com. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  11. "Cast named for BBCS comedy Black Ops". Televisual.com. 15 June 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  12. "I TALK TO Hammed Animashaun". I Talk Telly. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  13. "Lindsey Wright". Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  14. Cormack, Morgan (21 April 2023). "Black Ops: Release date, cast and latest news for BBC comedy thriller". Radio Times. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  15. Aroesti, Rachel (5 May 2023). "Black Ops review – can you really make a hilarious comedy about police racism? Yes you can!". Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  16. Wilson, Benji (5 May 2023). "Black Ops, BBC, review: who knew incompetent coppers and tough gangs could be this hilarious?". The Telegraph. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  17. Jessop, Vicky (5 May 2023). "Black Ops on BBC One review: this devilishly funny, utterly daft police comedy pokes fun at everything". Evening Standard. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  18. "Police sitcom Black Ops is charming enough, but it lacks bite – review". The Independent. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  19. Einav, Dan (1 May 2023). "Black Ops, BBC1 review — naive officers infiltrate a gang in farcical cop caper". Financial Times. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
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