[6] Chris Carson is a police officer in a fictional constabulary covering Liverpool, who has been demoted from his position as an inspector and undertakes a series of night shifts in the city centre.
He is a conflicted and compromised man, with somewhat divided loyalties, a desire to do good, but with anger issues brought on by childhood trauma and exacerbated by his experience in the police.
[citation needed] The first episode was watched 6,164,000 times on iPlayer alone during 2022, making it the third most-viewed individual programme on the platform that year.
The critics' consensus reads: "The Responder is unrelentingly dark and inescapably absorbing, with Martin Freeman's hangdog performance carrying the drama".
The critics' consensus reads: "Putting Martin Freeman's character through the absolute ringer, this second season proves to be as battered, bruised, and resilient as its compelling antihero".