Howard Overman has launched a blistering critique of British crime dramas, declaring many are “s**t” compared with their American counterparts as he prepares to launch his latest television series.
The Bafta-winning writer made the candid admission while discussing his new six-part crime thriller Hit Point, which premieres on U&Dave and streaming platform U on August 13.
Speaking to GB News and other journalists, Mr Overman said he wanted to create a British crime series that could compete with the scale and excitement of international productions.
“I just wanted to write something that I wanted to watch because I like crime shows,” he explained.
Howard Overman created and wrote Hit Point
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GETTY
“But I always find that they’re a bit… I don’t know. A lot of them are a bit s**t compared to the Americans.”
The writer argued British productions often shy away from ambitious action sequences, instead relying on dialogue-heavy storytelling.
“I wanted to do something with a bit more action in it, a bit more energy, because I think sometimes in Britain we get a bit snooty about action.”
Mr Overman added that he believes there remains an outdated perception within the industry that action lacks artistic value.
Nick Blood and Saffron Hocking lead Hit Point as detectives Leo and Bella, whose professional partnership develops into a complicated romance
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UKTV
“We think action’s a bit lowbrow, and I don’t think it is.”
The new series follows detectives Leo and Bella, played by Nick Blood and Saffron Hocking, whose investigation into a £ 10 million heist drags them into the dangerous criminal underworld of West London.
The drama has been billed as a fresh take on the British crime genre.
Mr Overman said one of his biggest frustrations with the genre was its reliance on familiar tropes, explaining that he deliberately avoided many of the conventions viewers have come to expect.
Nick Blood stars as Detective Leo in the upcoming crime drama Hit Point
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UKTV
“I barely wanted them ever to go in a police station,” he said.
“I didn’t really want to see anyone in high-vis.”
The writer revealed he set himself a series of “hard and fast rules” while developing Hit Point, banning traditional staples including interview rooms, detective inspectors and scenes of officers gathered around whiteboards.
“I thought, the audience don’t give a s**t about that, really,” he said.
“I don’t want to see any points where they’re looking at whiteboards… those scenes where they’re being hauled over the coals.”
Instead, Mr Overman said he wanted Hit Point to feel closer to an American thriller than a conventional British police procedural, with its characters constantly on the move.
“We just wanted it to feel really different,” he explained.
“If you saw them, you wouldn’t know they were police officers.”
Mr Overman created the BAFTA-winning E4 series Misfits, which premiered in 2009
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Mr Overman said he wanted viewers to become invested in the characters themselves.
“I think you just buy into their relationship and the characters and what they’re doing,” he said.
“It’s so fast-paced that you go with it.”
Director David Caffrey echoed Mr Overman’s ambition, revealing the production drew inspiration from classic 1970s American films rather than familiar British crime dramas.
The cast and creators of Hit Point attended a special screening ahead of the crime drama’s August premiere
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GB NEWS
“We looked a lot at the movies of the ’70s,” he said.
“We wanted to have a much bolder visual style and didn’t want to be traditional.”
The production also embraced London’s streets in an unconventional way, with Mr Overman revealing many scenes were filmed among unsuspecting members of the public rather than background actors.
“There was a woman in a burka carrying a bag of watermelons and a stepladder, and next to her there was a guy wearing hot pants, boots and an anorak eating Ritz crackers out of a plastic bag,” he joked.
“You’re never going to get that if you try and cast that. That’s what you get for free in London.”
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