# No Offence (2015)

> A close-knit team of misfit Manchester detectives, led by a brilliant but unhinged DI, battles a relentless tide of crime and a twisted serial killer.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/55662

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 21
- Episode runtime: 47 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, comedy, drama
- Created by: Paul Abbott
- Network: Channel 4
- Cast: Joanna Scanlan, Elaine Cassidy, Will Mellor, Paul Ritter, Ste Johnston, Tom Varey, Saira Jackson, Alexandra Roach
- TMDB rating: 8.0/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3922704/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: gallows humor, gritty, sardonic, tense, bleak

## What critics say

Audience reception is positive, with viewers praising the sharp dark comedy, the gritty Manchester setting and the unhinged lead detective.

## Synopsis

No Offence (2015-2018) is a British dark comedy police procedural series created by Paul Abbott for Channel 4. Joanna Scanlan plays Vivienne Deering, a dizzyingly capable but unquestionably unhinged detective inspector who leads a scruffy, close-knit squad on the grimmest side of Manchester. Elaine Cassidy plays Dinah Kowalska, a sharp-minded officer alongside Will Mellor as Spike Tanner, with Paul Ritter and Ste Johnston rounding out the team. The engine of the show is the daily grind of a force that keeps running into drug labs, arsonists, neo-Nazis and notorious murderers, while the officers try to keep their own lives from falling apart. Across three seasons of episodic cases that gradually feed into a larger arc, the team's gallows humor and bleak jokes cut against the seriousness of each crime. The mood is abrasive and tender at once, with northern grit and sardonic dialogue carrying the emotional weight. The series sits in the tradition of British television that mixes crime with dark comedy, and fans of Line of Duty, Happy Valley and Fargo will find a similar blend of procedural grit and pitch-black wit.

## Shows like No Offence

- [Dept. Q (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/161456)
- [Blue Lights (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/138299)
- [In the Dark (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/63434)
- [The Responder (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/117829)
- [Brassic (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/78398)
- [The Loch (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/62856)
- [We Hunt Together (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/87053)
- [A Touch of Cloth (2012)](https://ember.film/tv/41283)
- [Ellis (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/161494)
- [McDonald & Dodds (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/84004)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt
