Just as Brighton shakes off its description as the city that looks like it is “helping police with their enquiries”, along comes a starring role in a primetime TV crime drama.

Pretend coppers and criminals chased each other around Circus Street, Brighton, yesterday, filming the forthcoming BBC One series Cuffs, set in Brighton, Shoreham and Worthing.

Due to be screened at 8pm on weekdays, the show promises to have everything from “a booby-trapped cannabis farm” to “fisticuffs between pensioners”.

Written by Julie Gearey, who also wrote the scripts for Prisoners’ Wives and Secret Diary Of A Call Girl, it stars Ashley Walters, from Top Boy and Small Island, among big names including Amanda Abbington from Sherlock and Shaun Dooley from Exile and The Game.

The cast and crew has already been spotted filming and a spokesman for the producers, Tiger Aspect, told The Argus the response from people in Brighton, Worthing and Shoreham “has been wonderfully welcoming”.

He said: “All we can really say is that everyone has shown a genuine interest in our work and been more than supportive in helping us realise our goals and vision.

“The series shows all sides of Brighton – a real 360 degree view. It’s about much more than just the pier and the beach. It explores every inch of the city.”

Tim Brown, co-director of Brighton’s CineCity film festival and a lecturer at the University of Brighton Arts department, said it was “exciting that a programme like that is being made in Brighton”.

He added: “Crime films or crime dramas just seem to fit perfectly with Brighton for various reasons: it seems to have something to do with being at the edge between the Downs and the sea and there is nowhere further to run.”

Robin Jarossi, editor of CrimeTimePreview.com, said writer Ms Gearey’s record suggested viewers would be in for a “really good, solid drama, which is more difficult than just people beating each other up”.