List of Law & Order: UK characters

Ronald "Ronnie" Brooks is a senior Detective Sergeant assigned to London's Major Incident Unit. Ronnie is a recovering alcoholic and absent-father, who values his job more than anything. He lives to see justice served. Ronnie is the light-hearted leader and mentor of his Junior Partners, and has turned down numerous promotions in order to make a difference on the streets.

Lively and loveable, Ronnie Brooks is the man you'd want to give your daughter away if you were indisposed. Ronnie adores his job. He's a copper's copper. A reminder of another era of London policing; an era Ronnie's determined to keep going. He knows every nook and cranny of the city. When he's off duty, he can be found playing snooker or at a West Ham game (he's been a season ticket holder for 35 years).

Anglican by upbringing, Ronnie's a humanist by experience. A proper old-school East End gentleman who understands the complexities of life and death. Ronnie uses his laconic wit to cover the reality of too many dead bodies and disappointments. A recovering alcoholic, Ronnie drank his way through two marriages and the distancing of two daughters. Although he typically shrugs it off, Ronnie's feelings of guilt are transparent even though he does not always explicitly talk about it. He now lives alone and makes up for his loneliness with his friendship with his colleagues and working overtime.

Ronnie's experience often comes to the fore in difficult cases as he is able to read body language and analyse a crime from a psychological perspective. Easy-going by nature, he has a good working relationship with most of his colleagues as well as the CPS. He is a natural mentor with great patience and tolerance for the rookies and was a mentor to both Matt and Sam as well as Joe.

Ronnie Brooks would appear to be based on the character Lennie Briscoe from the original Law & Order series. Both characters have two ex-wives, are estranged from their daughters and are recovering alcoholics.

Joseph "Joe" Hawkins a young junior Detective Sergeant who was Ronnie's third and final partner. A newly promoted DS, Joe has come straight from child protection to the murder squad, he is far more working class than his predecessors and as such possesses greater street smarts. His child protection training has come in useful on several occasions, in particular on his very first case, convincing a child witness to testify against a known gangster. Eager to learn, he's a fresh mind for Ronnie to mold, and he's fiercely loyal.

Elisabeth Flynn is new to her job of Detective Inspector but is determined to put her stamp on the MIU, declaring her own personal crackdown on knife crime. Ironically, the first case to come in under her command is a stabbing. She sees Ronnie as a dinosaur, and has a deep desire to modernise the police force.

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