Channel 4′s “dark” police drama No Offence kicks-off tonight.

The “outrageous” police procedural stars The Thick Of It’s Joanna Scanlan, The Paradise actress Elaine Cassidy and The Iron Lady star Alexandra Roach.

The eight part drama – dominated by a female cast – was shot entirely in Manchester and also stars Colin Salmon as Det Sup Darren Maclaren and Broadchurch’s Will Mellor.

Colin said: “You may cry but you will also laugh… a lot.”

Joanna plays DI Vivienne Deering, who is flanked by her right-hand women – DC Dinah Kowalska (Elaine) and the recently promoted DS Joy Freers (Alexandra).

Will Mellor plays Detective Constable Spike Tanner in the series, which kicks off at 9pm tonight.

Its creator Paul Abbott, who is best known for penning Shameless, said: “I love cop shows, I love comedies, and nobody has found a blended set of ingredients that make that work and feel like the cop series I wanted to make.”

He added: “You can’t call it a comedy, as it’s as dark as can be and it gets darker and darker.”