Gbemisola Ikumelo as Dom and Hammed Animashaun as Kay in Black Ops

29 April 2024

Black Ops S1

Who said infiltrating a criminal gang was going to be easy?

The BBC series Black Ops is set in East London and follows two inept community support officers, Dom and Kay, who join the Met Police in the hope of cleaning up their community but are unwittingly thrust into the murky world of deep cover infiltration as they become part of a powerful criminal enterprise.

The six-part comedy crime-thriller is co-created, written and exec produced by Nigerian-British BAFTA winners Gbemisola Ikumelo (Famalam, Brain In Gear) and Akemnji Ndifornyen (Famalam, The Queen’s Gambit), who star alongside award winner Hammed Animashaun (The Wheel of Time, Cunk & Other Humans on 2019, Pls Like).

“Can you really make a hilarious comedy about police racism? … the answer – pretty miraculously – is yes,” says The Guardian’s 5/5-star review, calling the show “a pitch-perfect, star-packed joy.” Praising the “dream team of Ikumelo and Animashaun,” they say, “if these two are the future of British comedy, we’re in very safe hands.”

Already renewed for a second season, Black Ops was nominated for Best Comedy Performance (for Ikumelo) at the 2023 Talk Telly Awards, as well as the 2023 Royal Television Society, UK award for Original Score - Scripted.

Black Ops also earned Gbemisola Ikumelo the Female Performance: Comedy award at the 2024 BAFTAs.

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