Edge of Darkness

Produced at the height of the nuclear paranoia and economic gloom that drove the Britain of Margaret Thatcher and the USA of Ronald Reagan, Troy Kennedy Martin's landmark drama broke new ground and handled uncomfortable subjects with sometimes unsettling depth and accuracy.

The late Bob Peck, in one of television's greatest performances, is Ronald Craven, a Yorkshire detective whose daughter Emma (Joanne Whalley) is gunned down outside their house in what is initially assumed to be a revenge attack related to Craven's former, and shadowy, intelligence past in Northern Ireland. The plot unwinds from here and slowly reveals a grand, all-encompassing conspiracy extending to the very highest levels as Craven investigates the circumstances of, and the motives behind, his daughter's death.

Peck plays Craven with a subtle emotional intensity rarely seen on television, the deadpan delivery of a man in the depths of grief contrasted by the emotions which his eyes always betray. A supporting cast of renegade CIA agents (Joe Don Baker giving the performance he was born for as brash Texan Darias Jedburgh), amiable but slightly sinister civil servants who never quite make it clear who they're working for (Charles Kay and Ian McNeice as Pendleton and Harcourt), environmental activists, trade-unionists, police and self-serving politicians make for a plot that twists and turns unpredictably as Craven's grief-powered explorations lead him ever deeper into the shadows, until the final, devastating, unexpected dénouement in the last episode that almost leaves more questions in the mind of the viewer than it answers.

This is British television drama at its best. Making it in the first place was a brave decision for the BBC, and it hasn't been bettered since. The plot sometimes seems slow at times, but there's always something relevant happening on screen. I do not recommend starting watching half-way through, as you will end up with an incomplete understanding of both the message of the story and the convoluted plot. Take the phone off the hook for five hours and enjoy. It is superb in all aspects from writing to casting to production, and exercises the mind in a way that few dramas do.

Incidentally - the original DVD release received poor reviews, but the 2003 re-release on a BBC DVD is excellent and includes some worthwhile extras as well as the complete uncut series.

I had seen the original Edge of Darkness back in the middle eighties (around '86 or '87) when I was about 13 or 14. I didn't remember a lot about it but I knew that it was pretty special. I saw the trailer for the Mel Gibson version a few months back and decided to revisit the original for the first time in like 20 years. I just got finished watching a little while ago. My God. I'm speechless. One of the greatest pieces of television ever. What begins as a father trying to find justice and closure for his murdered daughter segues into a surprising and haunting look at the soul of humanity and its future place on this planet. Harlan Ellison would call this a dangerous vision and it is indeed that. One of the most remarkable television series I have ever seen and even with Martin Campbell directing the remake, I just don't see the film having the same gravitas as the original. You know to start commenting on this masterpiece, I feel I have to start with not its primary character, but its secondary one, here played by Joe Don Baker. Outside of the Walking Tall films, I didn't think much of Joe Don Baker. Boy was I wrong. His Darius Jedburgh is one of the most complex and unique heroes/anti heroes to ever grace the small screen. You're a bit repulsed by him at first, but then you fall in love with his character. His wit, cleverness and intelligence is remarkable and all from Baker doing what he needs to do. He is one of the good guys. "Man will always win against nature" he cynically says and that is rebuked near the end of the series by the last friend he will ever have in Bob Peck's Ronald Craven who says, "I think you're wrong. If there is a battle between the planet and mankind, the planet will win." Peck's Craven is what ultimately leads us to Jedburgh. Craven's the central character, a hard nosed yet honorable police detective who happens to be widowed and whose only daughter, Emma, is gunned down right in front of him. That begins a quest for Craven to uncover the truth behind Emma's death which leads what screenwriter Troy Kennedy Martin may have envisioned, a battle between the forces of light and darkness for custody of the planet. Peck's performance is cool, reserved, a slow burn but in his eyes, in his eyes is a man losing all hope, all control. Those eyes of his are full of emptiness and pain. The most beautiful thing in his ugly, cynical world has been taken away from him. And what he thinks is a revenge killing against him gone wrong, becomes an investigation into a dark, dangerous world where the future of all of us hangs in the balance. Each layer that Craven uncovers to what at first appears to be simple street crime reveals a labyrithian conspiracy that exists which only a few are aware of and which is edging Craven closer and closer to madness. Peck's Craven rarely breaks down, he's in control of a chaotic situation, but when he lets his character rage at the world, you see a man broken, trapped and drowning. His emotions, his gravity of character takes us truly to the edge of darkness. "I am not on YOUR SIDE," he screams towards the end, letting loose all that he has lost, his daughter, his sanity, his life, his world. The true nature of the world has been revealed to him and he is no better for it. This was and is groundbreaking material. I don't want to spoil the intriguing hard science fiction plot with a pinch of the mystical simply because that would be the series undoing. And this is hard science fiction firmly rooted in real science and real speculation. Just grab on to something or someone and take a ride where darkness envelopes all who enter and where nothing is really what it seems.

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.

This is television nothing like US commercial TV. (And I include in that category not only network, but the tragically disappointing cable outlets.) Certainly, US public TV generally shied away from EOD - even, I'm afraid, NYC's flagship station. It was just too hot in the Age of Reagan. Also, I'm afraid, after Maggie Thatcher's gutting of the BBC, it will be rare there as well. What EOD offers is the complexity, the density, the reality of life - much like reading a novel, say, by John Le Carré at his best. And the acting! My God, those Brits - as Jedburgh says, they deserve the Falklands! One note that I can't resist: when we finally first see the cooling pool of Northmoor's plutonium holding - and remember that plutonium was named after the Greek God of the Underworld - Michael Kamen's music gives us a contrabass passage from Walton's "Belshazzar's Feast." And in that British cantata, the chorus sings "Thy sons shall be made eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon....By the waters of Babylon, we sat down, yea we wept...." And we sense what will be spelled out for us: the limitless depths of Grogan's international nuclear despotism. Like a fine novel, EOD deserves attentive and multiple viewings.

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.