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West Yorkshire Constabulary
Jobson
Det. Insp. Maurice Jobson
Portrayed By: David Morrissey
Molloy
Asst. Ch. Cst. Bill Molloy
Portrayed By: Warren Clarke
- Jerkass: Rude and unfriendly to just about everyone, and also completely corrupt.
Hunter
Asst. Ch. Cst. Peter Hunter
Portrayed By: Paddy Considine
Craven
Det. Supt. Bob Craven
Portrayed By: Sean Harris
- Character Death: Shot in the head at the end of 1980.
Nolan
Det. Ch. Supt. John Nolan
Portrayed By: Tony Pitts
- Affably Evil: The only corrupt policeman that can be called this. He's jovial, friendly and easygoing, but also thoroughly corrupt.
- Bait the Dog: Appears throughout 1980 to be Peter Hunter's best friend and primary ally. Then it emerges he's part of the gang of corrupt police Hunter is investigating.
- Even Evil Has Standards: It doesn't stop him from going through with it, but he's distinctly unhappy at having to murder his friend Peter.
The Yorkshire Post
Hadley
William "Bill" Hadley
Portrayed By: John Henshaw
Whitehead
Jack Whitehead
Portrayed By: Eddie Marsan
Eddie
Edward "Eddie" Dunford
Portrayed By: Andrew Garfield
- Amateur Sleuth: He's a fresh young reporter at the beginning of his career.
- Anti-Hero: Eddie is an arrogant, manipulative, sometimes callous womanizier who's far too ambitious for his own good. Despite this, he does want to make a difference and unearth corruption.
- Driven to Suicide: Delibrately crashes his car after murdering Dawson and his men.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Jack Whitehead gives him the disdainful nickname of 'Scoop'.
- Intrepid Reporter: He's a born journalist who refuses to give up.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Vain, cocky and ambitous but nevertheless posseses a firm moral compass and is eager to put an end to the corruption plaguing the region.
- The Rival: To Jack Whitehead, although the rivalry is soon pushed to the side in favor of the larger crimes that need uncovered.
Barry
Barry Gannon
Portrayed By: Anthony Flanagan
- Cassandra Truth: His theories on death squads turn out to be quite close to the truth.
- Nice Guy: One of the only ones on the show. He is friendly with Eddie and tries to investigate the corruption in the area. BJ specifically says he loved him because he was "kind".
- Sacrificial Lion: Murdered on the orders of Dawson when he gets to close to the truth.
Other Characters
Laws
Father Martin Laws
Portrayed By: Peter Mullan
- Asshole Victim: Shot three times by Jobson with a shotgun at the end of 1983.
- Faux Affably Evil: Laws is far from the innocent bystander and saintly reverend he pretends to be.
- Pedophile Priest/Sinister Minister: Laws is the head of a child-trafficking and murder ring.
- This Is a Drill: Tries to murder BJ with a power drill.
Dawson
John Dawson
Portrayed By: Sean Bean
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Has Eddie tortured by Craven and Douglas when he ramps up his investigation.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Not only does he have a finger in nearly every pie in Yorkshire, he's also part of a child murder ring.
- Dissonant Serenity: Doesn't seem all that concerned when Eddie has him at gunpoint.
- Faux Affably Evil: Puts on jovial airs and is capable of being quite charming, but it doesnt take much for him to drop the act.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Dawson's political views are quite colourful, to say the least. Then there's his torching of the Romani camp to build his shopping complex...
- Too Dumb to Live: Decides that it would be a great idea to mock a vengeful Eddie Dunford about murdering Paula. Whilst Eddie has him at gunpoint. As if that wasn't bad enough, he then confesses to being a child rapist and murderer.
- Would Hurt a Child: Would rape, murder and then stitch swan wings onto their back, to be precise.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: On the receiving end of this. Despite his money and power, he is so open about his activities that he becomes a liability to the corrupt police in his pocket. This leads to them facilitating his murder.
BJ
BJ
Portrayed By: Robert Sheehan
