The series, a spin-off from ITV's long-running police drama The Bill, focused on DCI Frank Burnside, formerly a detective at Sun Hill and now working for the National Crime Squad.

The lead character of the series was Detective Chief Inspector Frank Burnside, who had appeared in The Bill almost from its inception as a tough, no-nonsense antagonist to the station staff.

[2] In addition, several recurring characters appeared throughout the series: Paul Nicholas played Ronnie "The Razor" Buchan, a former London gangster and Burnside's nemesis.

Reflecting on the series some years later, the actor who played Burnside, Christopher Ellison, was critical of the quality of its writing, suggesting it compared unfavourably with The Bill.

[3] Interviewed on The Bill Podcast in 2019, Ellison said: "I always thought a huge mistake they made when we did the spin-off series called Burnside was that they changed the format completely, and the one thing I always felt it lost was its humour.