Wire in the Blood

This is a taut British crime drama very much in the "Cracker" mould. In this case, our lead character is Dr. Tony Hill. It features a crime-weary psychotherapist who is part profiler, part detective, part forensics expert. (Think "Cracker" meets "Inspector Morse" meets "CSI").There is a bookish, academic quality to Doctor Hill, without him being tweedy and standoffish (he's more human, and less lofty than Morse).

Dr. Hill is well played by actor Robson Green, who played another complex Detective in the British miniseries "Touching Evil."

In "Wire in the Blood" the stories and the crimes often unfold slowly, with just enough bits of clues and hints to make the slow development seem satisfying.

WARNING: The crime scenes can get a bit grisly, but are never gratuitous.

If you like the aforementioned "Morse" series, and enjoy the psychological gymnastics by Robbie Coltrane's "Cracker" then you will not want to miss "Wire in the Blood."

I watched all 3 in order and enjoyed this series. I am anxious to find out if there is a follow up to Painted? I have an unanswered question about the ending and it appears as though there is (or should be) a sequel to this? If you have not watched any of these, please go for it and watch them in order. The character development is quite entertaining. The chemistry between Hill and D.I. Jordan is done in a tasteful way. The creative and honest mind of the writers is put on the screen with a quality job of directing. I am a detective investigator and I am very critical with "who done it" crime solving type movies. These I would use to show my students when teaching a crime profiling class.

Wire in the Blood, is first of all a showcase for the excellent acting skills of the charismatic Robson Green. For a mystery/suspense,thriller this show easily surpasses virtually all shows in the genre. The shows all involve murder and this is the focus of the plots. The plots, moreover, are taut and well-written. The setting and actors are British. For non-British viewers the British actors provide something faintly exotic and alluring, which works fine to subtly draw the viewer into the action of this suspense show. It is our not insignificant loss that more shows weren't filmed

The acting overall is fine; Green's outstanding acting seemingly makes all of his fellow actors elevate their performances. The stories are quite compelling, but the real interest is in the way Green solves the murders, using his training as a psychologist who teaches at a university and in at least one episode is seen acting as a therapist. His credentials are present just to make him initially credible. He has the intelligence, training, and experience to solve complex crimes.

For a t.v. show, there an unusually high level of tension and suspense, often only seen in movies. All in all, this show rewards close viewing, while the violent/gruesome scenes are few, they are minimally sanitized, and are contextually justified. In fact the reality of violence and destructive sexuality reflect quite accurately what homicide detectives see in the real world on a regular basis. This is a show about evil--so don't expect extenuating circumstances, except for brief views in some of the shows of the past of the criminals, usually childhood, that help explain why they commit their heinous crimes.

Criminal Psychologist Tony Hill assists The Police with all manner of complex and disturbing crimes. He's quirky, he's a little odd, but he helps to provide a different, and intellectual insight into the killer's mind.

I loved this show, six great series, twisted, bleak and mind bending crimes. The show shocked, thrilled, entertained and intrigued.

Effectively the show is split up into two eras, series one to three, The Carol Jordan years, series four to six, The Alex Fielding years. Both having very different relationships with Tony.

What I'm struck by, was just how explicit this show was, it wasn't afraid to show violence and gore, at the time they got away with a lot more than they'd be allowed to now.

Torment, Synchronicity and The Mermaids singing were my favourite episodes, but the standard in general is very high, only the final, US set episode didn't quite work for me.

Robson Green was terrific as Tony Hill, a very original character, one it's hard not to like, quirky, but sincere and smart.

A great series, 9/10.

Green's vulnerability, intensity and flexibilty in his craft is a complete pleasure. He displays tremendous potential; one can hope that he will continue to create performances that are filled with the humanity, compassion and insight that "Tony Hill" shows us. Brilliant!