The production company behind the hit Manchester-based BBC crime series The Detectives: Fighting Organised Crime has confirmed it will be making its return to our screens in 2022.
Filmed over the course of two years, it’s fair to say that the hugely-popular documentary series had the nation gripped when it first aired back in March 2021, as it explored real instances of organised crime in Manchester, and the team of detectives trying to put a stop to it, with each episode covering cases as they happen.
What set the show apart from other similar series’ was its exceptional coverage of live police investigations.
It really was an unprecedented access to the Greater Manchester Police.
Millions of viewers tuned into the first episode of the series, which saw police receive a call after a man was taken from his home by an armed gang in front of his wife and children, before being held hostage, tortured, and only released after a £34,000 ransom was paid, and then millions more caught the second episode too, which documented an incident and spate of criminal activity covered multiple times in the national press back in 2018 and 2019.
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Yet despite the success of those first two episodes, without any prior warning, the series suddenly disappeared from TV guides, and when the next week rolled around on the day the show usually aired, many people were wondering where it had gone.
More recently, the existing episodes were also removed from BBC iPlayer.
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The first episode of The Detectives: Fighting Organised Crime / Credit: BBCThe second episode of The Detectives: Fighting Organised Crime / Credit: BBC
The reason for the show disappearing off air wasn’t something the BBC seemed massively keen to talk about, despite many people asking, but in an answer to someone’s inquisitive question on Twitter back in May 2021, BBC iPlayer did reveal that: “The first two episodes were self-contained narratives [and] there are three remaining episodes that are planned later in the summer which follow one complete story.”
The summer may have passed, but now, the show’s producers have finally confirmed it will be making its long-anticipated return in 2022.
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Minnow Pictures explained in two separate tweet replies: “It will return this year [2022], date TBC, and we do need to wait for stories to conclude.”
They also added that “there are delays due to ongoing investigations.”
It will return next year, date TBC. We do need to wait for stories to conclude
The subject and storylines for the upcoming episodes are currently unconfirmed.
There have been rumours that the show’s second run will focus on grooming gangs in Rochdale, although the BBC are yet to shed any light on whether this is true, or when exactly it is that thw series will air.
The broadcaster has been simply asking people to “keep an eye on the programme page for dates nearer the time.”
Featured Image – BBC
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Erling Haaland has named his four favourite films… and fans have a lot to say on it
Emily Sergeant
Erling Haaland has answered the all-important question.
The question heard around the world, the question on everyone’s lips, a question that has absolutely nothing to do with football whatsoever… that’s right, he’s answered Letterboxd’s famous question of ‘what are your four favourite films?’.
If you’re unaware of what Letterboxd is, it describes itself as being an ‘online diary platform and app for film lovers’ and it gives users the chance to display their four favourite films at the top of their profile for all to see (and judge).
An extension of this has then been Letterboxd asking celebrities in press junket interviews and on red carpets what their ‘four faves’ are – and it’s gone on to become something of a phenomenon in the film world.
Everyone from massive A-list movie stars, to indie darlings and up-and-coming names have answered this question before, and now (it appears) to be Erling Haaland’s turn.
He’s not the first footballer to be tasked with question though, as the entire Spurs team was ambushed with it by former player – and famously massive cinephile – Alfie Whiteman last year, but it’s fair to say that after the summer he’s had with Norway at the World Cup, achieving international fame in the process, that Haaland is one of the most high-profile to answer it in a long while.
So, what’s on Erling’s list then?
Well, to self-confessed ‘film bros’ out there, you’re not going to find any deep cuts in this selection unfortunately, and you’re probably not going to get any recommendations for movies you haven’t seen before either, but come on, he is only a footballer after all.
Erling Haaland has named his four favourite films… and fans have a lot to say on it / Credit: Letterboxd
First up for the Manchester City striker is a pretty common pick by straight white men, it’s The Wolf of Wall Street, and he doesn’t give much of a reason for it, other than just suggesting: “I think you understand why”.
He then follows that up with Ridley Scott’s classic Gladiator, calling it ‘amazing’, before naming 2004’s epic Troy, and then rounding it out with a Christmas favourite for many, Home Alone, adding that he ‘watched it a lot as a kid, and then again now’.
As for fan reaction to Haaland’s four favourites, let’s just say it’s been mixed.
Among the 1,000+ comments on the Instagram video, you’ll find just as many people called him ‘king’ and saying he has ‘goated’ taste, as you will comments like this: “He has the most male gazed top four in history of Letterboxd.”
Noel Gallagher reveals his and Liam’s children are now ‘best friends’ after the Oasis reunion
Emily Sergeant
Noel Gallagher has revealed that his and Liam’s sons had never met each other before the Oasis reunion last year.
But now? Well now they’re ‘best friends’, apparently.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, then I’m sure you’ll know by now that Oasis reunited last year for the first time since they disbanded back in 2009 to bring the world the long-awaited Oasis Live ’25 reunion tour – including five nostalgia-drenched gigs here in Manchester at Heaton Park, which saw more than 300,000 people descend on our city.
It was undeniably one of the biggest cultural events of the 21st century so far, given the fact most fans presumed the Gallagher brothers‘ feud meant they would never meet each other again.
Now though, it’s been revealed that some Gallaghers actually hadn’t met before last year.
According to those lucky fans who have already had the chance to see the Oasis: Don’t Look Back In Anger documentary concert film – which premiered first at the 2026 Venice Film Festival this past weekend, and then had its world premiere in London last night (7 September) – Noel Gallagher shares a story about how his two sons, Donovan and Sonny, had never met Liam’s sons Lennon and Gene prior to the reunion tour.
Noel Gallagher reveals that his and Liam’s sons had never met before the Oasis reunion:
Noel has three children – 26-year-old daughter Anaïs from his first marriage to Meg Matthews, and then two sons, 18-year-old Donovan and 16-year-old Sonny from his second marriage to Sara MacDonald.
Liam, on the other hand, has four children – daughter Molly, 28, two sons Lennon and Gene, aged 26 and 25 respectively, as well as a 13-year-old daughter named Gemma, who he is yet to meet.
Speaking on the relationship between his kids and their cousins, Noel said: “When my kids met his kids they didn’t know each other.
“Donovan and Sonny had never met Gene and Lennon. Lo and behold they’re best friends now.”
Oasis: Don’t Look Back In Anger is set to show the meteoric rise of Oasis through rare footage and untold stories as the band reunites for Oasis Live ’25, chronicling their journey from Manchester streets to global rock stardom.
It releases in cinemas nationwide, including in IMAX, this Friday 11 September.
Emily Sergeant -
27th January 2022 
