Siobhan Finneran Saves a Messy & Cluttered 'Protection'

Television police dramas tend to follow a predictable formula. There’s the dogged detective who solves the crimes no one else can. Said detective is usually great at their job but very bad at their romantic life. They also typically are juggling problems at home. The new BritBox series Protection doesn’t veer from this successful model. The series even has a character who whispers dramatically to another character, “Don’t trust anyone,” and the obligatory being chased through the woods by a man with a gun. All the pieces of the cop drama formula are here, but the execution is murky. 

DI Liz Nyles (Siobhan Finneran) is a police officer charged with guarding people in the witness protection program. Her latest assignment is protecting Jimmy McLennan (Kris Hitchen), an accountant/money launderer who has turned against his former crime boss/employer, Eddie Crowther (Alec Newman). Crowther is a cool and calm villain with a wife and child who are seemingly oblivious to his drug cartel. 

Jimmy has a wife and a 12-year-old daughter named Amy (Tilly Kaye). Amy is not thrilled with having to leave her life behind and, like many tweens, doesn’t always make the smartest choices. Early on in the six-episode series, the safe house is attacked, which seems impossible since only Liz and her partner, DS Raj Kholi (Chaneil Kular), know the safe house’s location. Even stranger DS Paul Brandice (Barry Ward) is found injured at the safe house. Why was he there when he had nothing to do with the case? Complicating things even more, Liz was having an affair with the very married Paul.

Liz’s home life is even more complex. Her father, Sid (David Hayman), is a legendary retired cop now recovering from a stroke and suffering from the onset of dementia. Her 16-year-old daughter Jasmine (Jodie Pryce) doesn’t like how her mom’s job affects her life and constantly challenges Liz. Her ex-husband only exacerbates the situation. Amid all of this, Liz must figure out why Paul was at the house and who leaked where the safe house was. She’s up against two equally dogged detectives—DCI Wheatley (Katherine Kelly) and DCI Amanda Kelman (Nadine Marshall). They know Liz is not forthcoming about her involvement, not just with the case but also with the nature of her relationship with Paul. 

Flashbacks show us how the relationship between Liz and Paul began and why she would risk so much professionally and personally for something she knew in her gut was very wrong. “If you want this to end, you just have to say it,” he tells her. But Liz doesn’t end it. “I told myself I deserved something just for me. Something selfish,” she says in one of the drama’s more relatable moments.  

The ITV series, which is premiering simultaneously on both sides of the pond, is based on the real-life experiences of a witness protection specialist who served over 30 years in the department. Perhaps that’s why the series feels so convoluted: It tries to tell too many stories at once.

There are so many red herrings, not in a good way, but in a way that feels like writers Polly Buckle, Kris Mrksa, and Giula Sandler kept changing their minds on who the bad guy(s) were and what the actual conspiracy was. There are also so many characters whose introduction is so brief that it becomes increasingly difficult to keep track of everyone. At one point, Liz and Raj have an evidence board with several characters and their relationship to Eddie. Having it as a cheat sheet while watching the series would have been helpful. Because of all the narrative clutter, the final reveal of who is behind the conspiracy lacks oomph. It also doesn’t track with all that has come before it. 

There are also a few too many leaps in logic. They are desperately trying to keep Amy safe, but several of the locations they chose to hide her seem far too easy to discover. At one point, Liz is shocked that someone could figure out where she lives. However, even considering the secrecy protocols of the witness protection program, it seems like an address would be easy to discover in the age of Google. 

What saves Protection is Finneran’s terrific performance. She grounds the series even amid the constant plot twists, making Liz completely believable. Finneran is particularly effective in Liz’s scenes with her father. “All I’ve ever wanted to do is impress you,” she tells him in one heartfelt exchange. “That’s why I went to the police. I wanted to make you proud.” Liz’s sadness and fear of watching her father slowly slip away is palpable. “Maybe we could look after each other through our troubles,” he tells her. Watching Heyman and Finneran interact is a delight. Their relationship could be an entire series unto itself. 

All six episodes of Protection are streaming on BritBox and ITVX starting Sunday, December 29, 2024.