# Scott & Bailey (2011)

> Two Manchester detectives lean on their friendship to solve murders in a grounded British police procedural.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/36323

## Facts

- Seasons: 5
- Episodes: 33
- Episode runtime: 45 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama
- Created by: Sally Wainwright, Diane Taylor
- Network: ITV1, STV
- Cast: Lesley Sharp, Amelia Bullmore, Rupert Graves, Suranne Jones, Nicholas Gleaves, Danny Miller, Sean Maguire, Tony Pitts
- TMDB rating: 8.0/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1843678/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: grounded, warm, bantering, gritty, character driven

## What critics say

Viewers broadly rate Scott & Bailey as a well-crafted, character-driven police procedural whose strength lies in the friendship between its two detectives.

## Synopsis

Scott & Bailey (2011-2016) is a British police procedural series created by Sally Wainwright and Diane Taylor for ITV1. Suranne Jones plays DC Rachel Bailey, an edgy and impulsive detective, and Lesley Sharp plays DC Janet Scott, a family-minded colleague who is her steady counterpart. Working for the Manchester Metropolitan Police, the two women draw on each other's strengths as they investigate murders across the city, with Amelia Bullmore as DCI Gill Murray overseeing the squad. The engine of the show is the procedural grind of interviews, forensic leads, and station-house politics, with some cases spreading across several episodes while others close quickly. Over five seasons and thirty-three episodes, the series keeps a single continuing thread of personal lives alongside its case work. Its tone is grounded, warm, and bantering, with moments of real darkness in the crimes. Fans of Cagney and Lacey, Happy Valley, and Prime Suspect will find resonance in its female-led partnership and northern English realism. The show suits viewers who want character-rich crime drama with a human heart.

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