The Commander

When Lynda La Plante’s The Commander first aired on ITV in 2003, it promised something a little different from the usual police procedural. Starring Amanda Burton—already a household name thanks to a long run in Brookside and her forensic turn as Sam Ryan in Silent Witness—the series sought to explore the moral complexities of leadership within the Metropolitan Police. Over five series, it delivered a mixture of hard-edged crime drama, personal conflict, and moral ambiguity that made for often compelling, if uneven, television.

At the centre of The Commander is Clare Blake (Burton), one of the few women to rise to the rank of Commander in London’s Metropolitan Police. She leads an elite murder investigation squad, and the series’ core tension lies in how Blake’s personal and professional lives blur, sometimes disastrously. While she commands authority and respect, she also demonstrates a recurring weakness: her empathy and emotional entanglements frequently cloud her judgment. Burton plays Blake as a woman burdened by power—strong but brittle, deeply intelligent yet fatally flawed.

The early episodes, beginning with the two-part pilot simply titled The Commander, set a dark and psychologically charged tone. The story of Blake’s relationship with convicted murderer James Lampton (a chillingly charming Hugh Bonneville - Downton Abbey) remains one of the show’s most memorable arcs. What begins as a professional encounter between officer and ex-convict spirals into a morally questionable relationship that tests the credibility of Blake’s character and the patience of viewers. Indeed, complaints to Ofcom and ITV reflected discomfort with the storyline, as many felt Blake’s willingness to sleep with a suspect stretched believability and undermined her authority.

Despite this controversy, the Lampton story was undeniably gripping. It showcased Burton’s strength in portraying inner conflict and moral tension—qualities that had defined her previous work on Silent Witness. The difference here was that Clare Blake, unlike Sam Ryan, is not merely an observer of crime but an active player, whose decisions carry real-world consequences, adding a layer of psychological realism, even if the writing occasionally faltered in making her choices plausible.

Matthew Marsh (Chancer) brought an excellent grounded counterbalance as DCI Mike Hedges, Blake’s loyal but increasingly disillusioned subordinate through the first four series. His chemistry with Burton lent the show a steady centre, and his eventual departure left a noticeable gap, only partially filled by Mark Lewis Jones (Outlander) as DCI Doug James in the later episodes. Both men served as moral and professional foils to Blake, highlighting the friction between principle and pragmatism in police work.

Stylistically, The Commander bore the hallmarks of early-2000s ITV crime drama—muted colour palettes, procedural realism, and an emphasis on character psychology over action. It shared the network’s appetite for morally ambiguous protagonists, predating later, more polished explorations of flawed leadership seen in series like Broadchurch or Line of Duty. Yet The Commander often struggled to maintain tonal consistency, veering between gripping psychological drama and melodrama.

The series’ later seasons, while still well-acted, lacked some of the intensity of the early stories. As the focus shifted from Blake’s moral failings to more conventional case-of-the-week plots, the show lost some of its edge. Nevertheless, Burton remained compelling throughout—her clipped delivery, steely resolve, and quiet vulnerability making Clare Blake a distinctive, if divisive, figure in British television crime.

Today, The Commander feels like a transitional piece in the evolution of British crime drama. It bridged the gap between the procedural precision of the 1990s and the complex, character-driven storytelling that would dominate the following decade. Its portrayal of a female commander navigating sexism, moral compromise, and public scrutiny was ahead of its time, even if its execution was uneven.

Verdict:
The Commander may not have achieved the iconic status of Silent Witness or Prime Suspect, but it remains a fascinating character study anchored by Amanda Burton’s commanding presence. Flawed, provocative, and occasionally implausible, it is nonetheless a noteworthy entry in ITV’s crime canon—one that dared to ask uncomfortable questions about power, integrity, and the cost of leadership.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ – A bold, morally complex drama held together by Burton’s formidable performance.

Percival Wexley-Smith