Joanna Scanlan

The snappy, gutsy cop show is nearing the peak of series two's main story. With two more episodes to come after tonight, this is the one where the police discover just what horrors they're dealing with in their investigation of crime boss Nora, given cocky swagger by the terrific Rakie Ayola. Every showdown between Nora and justice tornado Viv (Joanna Scanlan) is a thrill. In comparison, the case-of-the-week side-plot at an abortion clinic feels a little pat.

Paul Abbott's bawdy crime drama juggernaut rolls on and tensions are running high down at the Friday Street station. This week, there's division between Dinah (Elaine Cassidy), Joy (Alexandra Roach) and the boss who you wouldn't dare mess with, Deering (Joanna Scanlan). There's suspicion that the Attahs might be colluding with one of the team, and there's another case to crack when a dad reports his daughter missing and the search uncovers sinister online activity.

Preview - No Offence

Paul Abbott's award-winning drama continues to cut through the norms of what is expected from the crime genre. It is a show that can at a stroke break from serious storytelling to the blackest of visual jokes and the coarsest of dialogue. It does take a while to recalibrate your brain to tune into Abbott's non-comformist but brilliant plot lines, and for the patient, it is well worth it.

Paul Abbott's pacy and compelling police drama continues, with the consequences of the crematorium bomb continuing to multiply. And, as her team face life-threatening situations, Joanna Scanlan's DI Viv Deering is only just holding it together. The strength of No Offence lies in this beautifully realised vulnerability: these cops are hard-bitten, but very human, and their dilemmas, anxieties and mistakes give the series heart, heft and a real ring of truth.

Why I love No Offence

Paul Abbott's police procedural series with guts, heart and a killer sense of humour is back on Channel 4 for round two. Mickey Noonan couldn't be more chuffed.

Paul Abbott gave us, with the second series of No Offence, his latest instalment of what could justifiably be termed Manc noir. The term's more relevant than it might look: subtitles were surely co-opted around much of the country, if only to net all of the glorious one-liners.

It's fast, furious, scabrous and all terrific, dirty fun, played out amid gang wars and exploding body parts, chiefly by the phenomenal Joanna Scanlon as DI Viv. She's angry, believable, and serenely unafraid to show her wobbly bits. This opener had less obvious humour than the first series - quite a few people died, quite horribly - but Abbott's gnarly ear for quick wit, as really spoken, remains... can an ear be head and shoulders above? The collective warmth of Viv's team beams from the screen in a rare way, as if the actors actually like each other in real life, and there's also the teeing up of a huge backstory regarding the death of Viv's husband. Bring it shamelessly on. It's Man City personified: blue in tooth and claw.

No Offence review

You might not have much idea what's going on in the return of this blackly comic Manchester cop drama, but you'll have a good time anyway.

Joanna Scanlan interview

As Paul Abbott's all-female cop comedy No Offence returns, its star talks putdowns, poetry - and why sexuality should stop being associated with youth.

Preview - No Offence

No Offence was one of the surprise comedy hits of 2016. Paul Abbott's fly on the wall style crime-fighting comedy is full of sharp dialogue and strong visual humour shot not so much on the mean streets but on the less salubrious 'burbs of Manchester.

No Offence review: crime drama is back with a bang!

While it's still far too early to say if No Offence's second series is going to be a success or not I feel that Paul Abbott and the team are off to a good start.