Blue Lights Season 3 Filming Locations Revealed: Here's Where They Shot It

Blue Lights is back in Belfast and it is not exactly taking a victory lap. Season 3 leans harder into the chaos these officers wade through every day, with the once-new recruits now more experienced, more exposed, and getting squeezed from every angle.

So what is season 3 actually about?

Grace (Siân Brooke), Tommy (Nathan Braniff), and Annie (Katherine Devlin) have leveled up on the job, which only raises the stakes. The new run digs into how the police machine operates alongside organized crime, and how Belfast’s paramilitaries don’t just act locally — they are often tied to international gangs treating the city like a pit stop for major drug shipments. It is an intense mix of street-level policing and big-picture pressure.

Where do they shoot it?

The show lives and breathes Belfast. Seasons 1 and 2 were filmed entirely in and around the city, and the production keeps mining real neighborhoods instead of playing it safe on backlots. The local crew in Northern Ireland gets a lot of love from the creators — and for good reason.

• Monkstown area of Newtownabbey
• Granton Park housing estate
• Belfast city centre and the High Street
• Dundonald, east of the city

The creative approach got bolder in season 2. The team says they pushed themselves to show areas of Belfast with more honesty while still keeping things authentic and respectful. Some of it is uncomfortable — by design.

"We are shining a light without giving the answers, which creatively is quite difficult, but if you have great characters at the heart of it you can accept that we don't always need definitive answers. You just need to see how people react when they try to do something in the moment."

Belfast is not just a backdrop, it is a character

This is a very inside-baseball thing to say, but it fits here: the city really does shape the show. The creators have talked about wanting to show the full spectrum of Belfast — not just cops running through familiar streets, but standalone images that mean something to the story. In season 2 they chased visual motifs and connective tissue that make everything feel more immediate and lived-in. It is a love letter to the place, even while acknowledging it is still complicated and troubled.

Where is it set, and when?

All-in on Belfast. Blue Lights follows PSNI officers (that is the Police Service of Northern Ireland), set in the present day. The themes are local but universal: starting a new job, feeling the pressure, finding a work family that sometimes understands you better than your own.

The show also keeps tapping into a reality that has not entirely gone away. The creators have said recent events can feel like a grim throwback, which is exactly why the series matters. It does not look past the risks officers take to uphold civic life — while still admitting the system is imperfect.

When and where to watch

Season 3 hits BBC iPlayer and BBC One on Monday 29 September. If you need a refresher, seasons 1-2 are already streaming in full on BBC iPlayer.