ITV fans think they’ve discovered the ‘new Line of Duty’.

*Warning – this article contains spoilers for ITV’s Protection.*

ITV fans are on the fence about BBC’s newest six part drama, with fans comparing Protection to Line of Duty in both good and bad contexts.

Viewers can expect to see Happy Valley actress Siobhan Finneran in full swing as DI Liz Nyles. She operates for the UK Protected Persons Service as a police officer, also known as witness protection.

Along with a challenging job, the detective’s home life is exactly rosey either… To top things off, she also finds herself caught up in a steamy affair, adding further complexities to an already exhausting situation.

Things really ramp up when Liz is put in charge of protecting Jimmy McLennan and his wife and daughter. Jimmy is a well known gangster, who turned into an informant and it proves to be a huge feat trying to keep them all safe.

Sadly, the parents are murdered at the safe house, leaving Liz worried that her racy love life with DS Paul Brandice (Barry Ward) will come to light.

It also manifests that DS Paul, who is also married, isn’t taking part in the affair for all the right reasons and is instead just using Liz for information about her witnesses.

The twists and turns, inside secrets and corruption have taken fans on a complete thrilling journey, one that reminded many of Line of Duty, with a comparison of the two shows being drawn.

One excited fan penned on X: “New Line of Duty vibes #Protection.” A second person agreed “#Protection is giving vibes of The Bay and Line of Duty I love it!” (sic)

The praise didn’t stop there either, with many ITV viewers continuing to spread their own recommendations across social media.

One fully invested fan admitted: “Fully recommend Protection on ITV. Already chewed through four episodes.” As another person claimed: “Protection is possibly ITV’s best crime drama in years!” (sic)

Despite many happy viewers, there were a few who were not overly enthused. One online user stated: “Everyone involved in Protection owes Jed Mercurio a few quid. A Poundland Line of Duty with a waste of fine acting talent.”

Another shared the same sentiment, adding: “This Drama is ok, but has this story not been done before? Just feels like a tired format and nothing new. #protection.” (sic)

While a third person aired that they were struggling with so much going on. They said: “#Protection is trying too hard. Too much is happening in too short a time. Siobhan Finneran is a great actor, but viewers barely have time to absorb all the twists.” (sic)

Protection returns to ITV1 this evening for it’s second installment at 9pm.