For several years, British stars Noel Clarke and Ashley Walters have eyed a U.K. version of Bad Boys, the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence buddy cop action movie franchise which includes two films, with a third on the way.
Whether the inspired British take would be a movie or a TV series was discussed, and last we heard about the possibility, around 2014, the mystery project had received a title, Full Clip, with a synopsis tease (two undercover cops in London working on a “big case”), further elaborating that it’s about two polar opposite guys learning to relate and work with each other, and obviously solve the “big case.” Not-so unlike the American version of Bad Boys, I suppose; or for most buddy cop action movies actually.
It would take another three years until the project would become official when, last summer, British broadcaster Sky 1 announced that Noel Clarke and Ashley Walters would star in the first series for the network titled Bulletproof. The duo will play police officer partners and best friends Bishop and Pike, bonded by the same moral code despite their differences.
Bishop (Clarke) and Pike (Walters) had very different lives growing up. Pike’s dad was the first black police commissioner and he grew up always trying to live up to his expectations, while Bishop grew up looking for a father figure as he was passed around foster homes. Their bond seems unbreakable, but their friendship is about to be tested. Sky adds that the show ultimately revolves around the relationships between fathers and sons, and is about friendship, conspiracies and ghosts from the past.
Clarke and Walters promise an “amazing” series that “fans and non-fans alike will be drawn to.”
Filmed last fall, Bulletproof is created and written by Clarke and Walters, collaborating with writer, director and executive producer Nick Love. Producers include Vertigo Films and Company Pictures. Executive producers are Allan Niblo, Michele Buck and Judy Counihan.
Sky has yet to set a premiere date for Bulletproof (although it’s expected some time in 2018), nor have they revealed how many episodes will comprise the season. But the broadcaster is giving us a first look at the series, releasing the first trailer this morning (embedded below) and looks just as one might expect given its inspiration and synopsis.