Will there be a Blue Lights season 5?

*Warning - contains spoilers for all six episodes of Blue Lights season 4, available now on BBC iPlayer.*

If you've already made your way through all six episodes of Blue Lights season 4, you will know that the last episode had a real sense of finality about it.

The episode saw Blackthorn closed, as the team made plans for their future at new stations. Elsewhere Grace become a detective, after the very first episode of the drama saw her join the team as a rookie, and she got engaged to Stevie.

But does this mean that the show is done for good or could it return in some form for a fifth season? And if it were to return, when would the new episodes air and who would star in them?

Read on for everything you need to know about the potential for a Blue Lights season 5.

We don't yet know whether Blue Lights will be returning for a fifth season. Nothing has been confirmed about the show's future by the BBC at this point, although given that the latest batch of episodes has just been released, this shouldn't be cause for concern.

At this point, it seems like the most likely reason the show wouldn't return would simply be that the story co-creators Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson were telling has come to a natural close.

In 2024, the series was renewed for both seasons 3 and 4, which were developed and written at the same time, as one overarching story.

Now that season 4 has been released, Lawn has told The Irish Times that he and Patterson intend to "take a beat", and assess a potential future for the series.

He said: "Whatever iteration of the show happens afterwards, or whatever decision the BBC makes, great, but there’s a sense in which we definitely want to step back and look at it in the round."

Patterson added: "It’s the end of a chapter. Declan says every season that it’s the best season, but I might finally agree with him. I think this season is really beautiful in many ways and will give people a lot of satisfaction in the end."

Given this, it certainly doesn't sound as though they're closing the door on Blue Lights, but fans might have a longer wait on their hands, and a potential fifth season may be a significantly different prospect to what we have seen thus far.

This would certainly seem to be the case, given that Blackthorn Station was closed at the end of the season. A future run could follow the team at a new station, but it seems the Blackthorn era is done.

We will update this page once we hear any more news regarding the show's future.

When could a potential Blue Lights season 5 be released?

With no fifth season commissioned as of yet, any suggestion of a potential release date is purely speculative at this point.

Previously, seasons have been turned around pretty quickly, with the longest gap being around 17 months between seasons 2 and 3.

However, if the BBC was to order another run, it seems likely that there might be a longer wait, as the show's co-creators have said they want to "take a beat" after season 4.

We would therefore imagine that the earliest we could see a season 5 would be in 2028 – however, we will just have to wait and see for now.

Who could return to star in a potential Blue Lights season 5?

If Blue Lights does return, then we could imagine that the central quartet of Siân Brooke's Grace, Martin McCann's Stevie, Katherine Devlin's Annie and Nathan Braniff's Tommy would be back.

However, this isn't entirely certain. At the end of the season, Grace was made detective and got engaged to Stevie, while Blackthorn Station was closed, meaning the colleagues would be scattering. It might therefore be the case that we would follow some of the team at a new station, while others will be posted elsewhere.

Others such as Joanne Crawford and Andi Osho could also be back, but at the moment it is all up in the air.

Here are some of the key cast members and characters from season 4, who could potentially be back for a season 5:

• Siân Brooke as Grace Ellis
• Martin McCann as Stevie Neil
• Katherine Devlin as Annie Conlon
• Nathan Braniff as Tommy Foster
• Joanne Crawford as Helen McNally
• Andi Osho as Sandra Cliff
• Frank Blake as Shane Bradley
• Dearbháile McKinney as Aisling Byrne
• Neil Keery as Lawrence McCloskey

Is there a trailer for Blue Lights season 5?

There isn't a trailer for Blue Lights season 5, as the show hasn't actually been renewed yet, let alone started filming new episodes.

For now, you can rewatch the season 4 trailer here, and we will make sure to add any new footage here if and when it is released.

Blue Lights is on BBC One at 9pm on Tuesday 29 September 2026 and is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

Add Blue Lights to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.

Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews listen to The Radio Times Podcast.