detective sergeant tommy murphy (james nesbitt) is an uncompromising, sometimes tough talking cop. he has no issues with using his charm and sense of humour to attempt to impress any woman, especially annie, his colleague and later boss. murphy was previously married with a young daughter, in northern ireland. there, his family were taken hostage and he was forced to make a choice; either carry a bomb and blow himself up in a local barracks, or have his daughter killed.