Protection

I typically jump at watching most all Brit crime shows, especially with a great cast of actors. Sadly, this plot was at best confusing and at worst not believable for the most part. I often enjoy mystery pot boilers, but this is not on that level. I hate to blame this mess on anyone in particular except for the writer.

It is difficult to stay invested in a story that includes inane plot lines, unbelievable twists, and no reason to believe that this would end in any way other than "black ops control everything," even without any rhyme or reason. If you want to watch an escapist mystery with no need to worry about the plot, this is for you!

I had high hopes for this with such a strong writer and cast, and it's nice to get a different perspective (witness protection) to the usual procedural. Unfortunately though it's confusing, full of holes and has that annoying thing where people who have presumably reached management or leadership by being good at their job for many years suddenly start making frankly daft decisions. At the same time rules that apply to everyone else are exempt for important characters in order to give them space to further the story. It gets increasingly confusing and annoying so by the denouement I'd really stopped following/caring what was going on.

There's no gloss in Protection, and that's exactly why it lingers. Across six taut, emotionally bruising episodes, this BBC drama delivers a quietly blistering takedown of a system that promises safety, then disappears the moment it matters.

Written by Kris Mrksa and led by a career-best performance from Siobhan Finneran, Protection doesn't rely on genre gimmicks or manufactured cliffhangers. Instead, it roots itself in something far more disquieting: the reality of British witness protection, and what happens when even the people sworn to uphold justice are forced to make morally corrosive compromises.

Finneran plays DI Liz Nyles with remarkable restraint. Every decision, every silence, feels loaded. She isn't the usual telly cop with a tortured backstory... she's just a woman doing an impossible job, one compromise at a time, until the ground disappears beneath her. Her performance never begs for sympathy, which is precisely why it earns it.

The pacing is deliberate, but never dull. Each episode deepens the psychological stakes, moving from procedural discomfort to full-blown ethical crisis without ever raising its voice. It's beautifully directed, especially in the moments between action: hushed corridors, flickering eye contact, late-night phone calls. It's in those spaces that Protection truly thrives.

This is not a show about big twists or neat endings. It's about failure - institutional, emotional, human. And yet, it's never cynical. It's simply honest.

Some viewers may find the finale frustrating in its lack of resolution. But that's the point. There are no heroes here, no neat redemptions. Just the question: what happens when the system meant to protect becomes the thing to fear?

In a landscape cluttered with noise, Protection stands out by whispering the truth - and it cuts deeper because of it. Unflashy, unfaltering, unforgettable.

One of the finest British dramas of the year.

As usual, as the plot thickens, the supposedly capable characters start doing stupid things to make it last longer?

I would say that the beginning episodes are the best, the last ones revolve around stupidity by characters. (Like why are they no using prepaid phones, not removing the sim cards, not saving information to an outside cloud,) and the list goes on...

Some good acting by supporting characters, main actor is not even in good enough shape to run without having a stunt double. Much better than American shows. More complex, more interesting. I would recommend if you ignore the logic flaws.

Siobhan's Character is a dullard. Wardrobe has her dressed poorly with an awkward walk. When confronted with dangerous situations she's a bit of a deer in headlights. Granted, that's the script she was given so it's her character to do very little in those situations.

While I say this when only viewing three episodes, that is halfway through the show so her character is well established as a poor decision maker. While this drama takes place in the UK, it apparently doesn't have any CCTV every other UK show utilizes. So as I advance to each new episode, I'm having more questions about her decision making skills that have me wanting to just stop watching.