A gritty trailer has landed for the upcoming BBC series The Responder.

The Liverpool-based crime thriller sees multi-award-winning actor Martin Freeman (Sherlock, The Hobbit trilogy) tackle one of his trickiest roles to date as PC Chris Carson.

Written and created by former Merseyside Police officer Tony Schumacher, the series follows a response officer who struggles to keep a grip on his mental health while undertaking a series of gruelling night shifts in Liverpool city centre.

Freeman is joined in the programme by a versatile mix of local and non-local actors including Adelayo Adedayo (Some Girls, Timewasters), Warren Brown (Good Cop, Luther), MyAnna Buring (Ripper Street, The Salisbury Poisonings), Ian Hart (Backbeat, Tin Star: Liverpool), Josh Finan (Guerrilla, Hellboy), Philip S. McGuinness (The Alienist), Mark Womack (Merseybeat, Emmerdale), Kerrie Hayes (Good Cop, The Mill), Faye McKeever (Trollied, Little Boy Blue), Christine Tremarco (Waterloo Road, Casualty), Elizabeth Berrington (Secrets & Lies, Stella), Philip Barantini (Band of Brothers, Ned Kelly), Philip Whitchurch (Bread, Goodnight Sweetheart), and BAFTA winners David Bradley (Harry Potter series, Broadchurch) and Rita Tushingham (A Taste of Honey, Ridley Road).

Additionally, the series also welcomes newcomers Emily Fairn as rebellious drug addict Casey and Romi Hyland-Rylands as Chris’s daughter Tilly.

The Responder will air its first episode on BBC One on 24 January, with all five episodes available to watch on BBC iPlayer.