''Lenny Blue'' is a British television

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

series first broadcast on ITV between 1 October 2000 and 2 July 2002, under the title of ''Tough Love''. Two series were broadcast, each starring

Ray Winstone Raymond Andrew Winstone (; born 19 February 1957) is an English television, stage and film actor with a career spanning five decades. Having worked with many prominent directors, including Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, Winstone is perha ...

as protagonist DC Lenny Milton, an officer tasked by the IPCC to go undercover to investigate claims of corruption against his boss, Mike Love (

Adrian Dunbar Adrian Dunbar (born 1 August 1958) is a Northern Irish actor, director and singer, known for his television and his theatre work. Dunbar co-wrote and starred in the 1991 film '' Hear My Song'', nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the BA ...

). The series also follows his dogged pursuit of drug dealer Barry Hindes (

David Hayman David Hayman (born 9 February 1948) is a Scottish film, television and stage actor and director, known for his role as DCS Mike Walker in ITV drama ''Trial & Retribution'', as Jonas Franks in BBC period drama '' The Paradise'' and as Brace i ...

). The first series was released on VHS only on 1 July 2002, having never been released on DVD. The second series was released on DVD on 15 October 2008.

Plot

The plotline for the first series was given by ITV as follows:

"Lenny Milton (
Ray Winstone Raymond Andrew Winstone (; born 19 February 1957) is an English television, stage and film actor with a career spanning five decades. Having worked with many prominent directors, including Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, Winstone is perha ...
) is not as ambitious as his best friend and popular boss DCI Michael Love (
Adrian Dunbar Adrian Dunbar (born 1 August 1958) is a Northern Irish actor, director and singer, known for his television and his theatre work. Dunbar co-wrote and starred in the 1991 film '' Hear My Song'', nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the BA ...
), but the pair are drinking partners and their wives and children are close. However, this goes very wrong over the space of seven days, when Milton is approached by the police complaints division asking him to go undercover and investigate allegations of corruption against his friend. Milton finds this difficult at first and tries to dismiss the evidence building up. But as his suspicions begin to take shape, his position appears to be in danger."

Series two follows Milton's dogged quest to bring down Barry Hindes (

), after a friend of his son's dies in a heroin-related overdose, and a gang war between drug dealers breaks out on his local estate.

Cast

as DC Lenny Milton *

Jake Wood Jake Dylan Wood (born 12 July 1972) is an English actor and podcaster, known for his role as Max Branning in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders''. He has also made guest appearances in series including ''Only Fools and Horses'' and '' Red Dwarf'' ...

as DS Pete Ainsworth *

Ralph Brown Ralph William John Brown (born 18 June 1957) is an English actor and writer, known for playing Danny the drug dealer in ''Withnail and I'', the security guard Aaron (a.k.a. "85") in ''Alien 3'', DJ Bob Silver in ''The Boat That Rocked'' aka ' ...

as Barry Hindes *

as DCI Michael 'Mike' Love (Series 1) *

Annabelle Apsion Jane Annabelle Apsion (born 17 September 1960 in Hammersmith, London) is an English actress best known for playing Monica Gallagher in the hit television comedy-drama '' Shameless'' (2004-2013), Joy Wilton in '' Soldier Soldier'' (1991-1995), a ...

as DI Karen Irving (Series 1) *

Bruce Byron Bruce Michael Byron is an English actor best known for his role as DC Terry Perkins in ''The Bill''. He originally followed a career in music, before started acting at 20. Biography He moved to Australia drilling for oil and gas in the Cooper ...

as DC Gerry Singleton (Series 1) *

Sophie Stanton Sophie Stanton (born 1971 in London, England) is an English actress, director and playwright. She is best known for her role as DCI Jill Marsden in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' in which she has appeared on and off since 2001. Career Ea ...

as WDS Denise Wright (Series 1) * Colin Tierney as DS Eddie Connolly (Series 1) *

Amanda Drew Amanda Drew (born 12 December 1969) is an English actress with extensive credits in theatre, television and film. Biography One of four children, Drew was born in Boston, Lincolnshire. Drew's mother was a nurse and her father was a vicar. When ...

as WDC Jilly Barnes (Series 1) * David Hemmings as DCI Tommy Gillespie (Series 2) *

Mark Lewis Jones Mark Lewis Jones (born 31 August, 1964) is a Welsh actor, whose roles include that of a First Order Captain Moden Canady in '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi'', a police inspector in BBC drama series ''55 Degrees North'', a whaler in the film '' Mast ...

as DC Huw Morgan (Series 2) *

Ivan Kaye Ivan Blakeley Kaye (born 1 July 1961) is an English actor and producer. His international fame came with roles in historical drama shows like the Duke of Milan in all three seasons of '' The Borgias'', and King Aelle in the first four Seasons o ...

as DI Ron Featherstone (Series 2) * Emma Lowndes as DC Kerry Allen (Series 2)

Episode list

Series 1 (2000)

Series 2 (2002)

Reception

Euan Ferguson of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' said of the series:

"Lenny Blue was finely scripted, beautifully shot and carefully acted throughout – no big-screen British crime drama would dare attempt the scene, far from central to the plot, in which the mother of a dead teenager reduced a school hall to a hunched and whimpered awkwardness. You can only hope we don't have to wait another two years for the return of Lenny and his sad smile, which only really flickered near his wife, and his son, and then once, quite terrifyingly, at the end, when he had to do what had to be done."

A third series was not commissioned because of falling ratings, with Series Two only receiving half of the viewing figures of Series One. However, this was blamed on poor scheduling, the second episode clashing with the debut of highly anticipated BBC drama '' Paradise Heights''.

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title, id=0307087, title=Lenny Blue (2002) ITV television dramas 2000 British television series debuts 2002 British television series endings 2000s British crime television series 2000s British drama television series British detective television series Television shows produced by Granada Television Television series by ITV Studios English-language television shows Television shows set in Brighton