Edge of Darkness

While you could make a good argument that TV doesn't have much to offer as a medium, this mini series stands as a blazing example to the contrary.

I doubt if this story would of worked as a movie. The suspense is slowly built per episode. Nothing blatant. Lots inferred. Brilliant writing. Superb acting. Haunting. Funny. Disturbing. The story is probably as relevant now (2005) as it was back in '85.

The music score alone makes it worth adding to your DVD collection. Michael Karmen and Eric Clapton work magic on the score. (A poor copy following in Lethal Weapon 3).

When it's over your heart won't sing; you probably won't have a smile on your face. Maybe a tear on the cheek? However, you'll be glad you watched it and rave about it later.

It's a moving, gripping piece of work.

unbelievably sophisticated, strikingly intense story of a british policeman trying to solve a mystery behind his daughter's death. the path he follows goes right down the dark woods - revealing an uglier world where personal grief becomes irrelevant to all sides and individual suffering is disposable - like nuclear waste. rarely have the deep human tragedy and impending political scheme been intervened in such a raw, yet subtle manner.

although regarded as a temporal masterpiece, in 14 years the edge of darkness has not lost its credibility and sharpness. one thing you might find funny though is the way computers look and work (oh yeah...). furthermore, in vhs copy one looses the endings of almost all the individual episodes - that is - all the different versions of the theme. beware, that's a big loss!

UK TV Drama has never again scaled the heights set by Edge of Darkness and Dennis Potter's "The Singing Detective" in the mid-1980s. Those two series have narratives, dialogue, style and acting that few filmmakers can match.

Troy Kennedy Martin came up with a complex, magnificent script, that balanced the bleak with the entertaining. All of the major characters come across as believable, and often enigmatic.

The plot evolves ingeniously from being a local murder case to a universal ecological parable throughout the 6 episodes. It defies categorisation, combining lyricism with tense action sequences. The "Northmoor" episode is as tense an hour of TV as there's ever been. Joe Don Baker gives a virtuoso performance as the truly larger-than-life maverick CIA agent, Darius Jedburgh whose motives are ambiguous to say the least. Charles Kay and Ian McNeice are wonderfully entertaining as Pendelton and Harcourt. Even Tim McInnerny's character with just a few minutes screen time is superbly written and played. It is, however, Bob Peck who should receive the most acclaim for what is to my mind one of the most complex, emotional and well-judged performances ever as Yorkshire policeman, Ronnie Craven. Craven gets caught up in a sinister and fascinating chain of events involving the death of his environmentalist daughter, played very well by Joanne Whalley-Kilmer. Bob Peck's early death was saddening- he deserved another role of this magnitude. Other factors that add to the genius of EoD are the atmospheric Eric Clapton/Michael Kamen score, the gritty direction, photography and the sheer attention to detail in every department.

It's truly a shame that few people today working on TV drama are willing at least to try to experiment and create television as artistic and exciting as "Edge of Darkness." It should go without saying that anyone who's not seen it should buy the video- you won't regret it. Rating:- ****** (out of *****)

Bob Peck, perhaps best known to American audiences as game warden Robert Muldoon in JURASSIC PARK, portrays a police inspector obsessed with solving his daughter's murder. His investigation leads him not only into his own past but into subversive anti-government groups, international intelligence conspiracies, and globalist elitism. This brilliant program, produced in 1986, goes beyond the Cold War and successfully predicts the darker side of globalism, the rise of New Age, pagan belief systems, and the government paranoia which keeps "The X-Files" in business. Another plus is Joanne Whalley-Kilmer as the murdered girl, who keeps appearing and conversing with her father. This cleverly serves not only an expository device, externalizing for the viewer the motivations and rationales behind one man's solitary mission, but also reminds us how unbalanced Peck's character truly is. This is an intelligent, thought-provoking program that only improves upon further viewings.

Edge of Darkness is in a class by itself as far as filmmaking is concerned.

This troubling, disturbing, haunting film is a classic, and a must-see for people who enjoy riveting stories, great performances, and who have more than a few questions about how governments discreetly solve their problems.

Bob Peck gives a tour-de-force performance that encompasses so many different emotions. He represents the average British citizen who finds himself caught up in events he cannot control, nor completely understand. Joe Don Baker is appropriately over the top as Jedburgh, and the rest of the cast sparkles with an adroit script and keen, sharp direction.