"Traffik" (1989) TV mini-series

User Rating:

8.7/10   

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

22 April 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Crime

Plot:

The Hamburg police arrest an international businessman, charging him with smuggling heroin from Pakistan...

Plot Keywords:

Heroin | Pakistan | Poppy | Drugs | London

Awards:

7 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Bill Paterson	...	Jack Lithgow (5 episodes, 1989)
Lindsay Duncan	...	Helen Rosshalde (5 episodes, 1989)
Jamal Shah	...	Fazal (5 episodes, 1989)
Talat Hussain	...	Tariq Butt (5 episodes, 1989)
Fritz Müller-Scherz	...	Ulli (5 episodes, 1989)
Vincenzo Benestante	...	Domenquez (5 episodes, 1989)
Linda Bassett	...	Rachel Lithgow (4 episodes, 1989)
Peter Bourke	...	Henderson (4 episodes, 1989)
Ismat Shah Jahan	...	Sabira (4 episodes, 1989)
George Kukura	...	Karl Rosshalde (4 episodes, 1989)
Julia Ormond	...	Caroline Lithgow (4 episodes, 1989)
Feryal Gauhar Shah	...	Roomana (4 episodes, 1989)
Shabaz Durrani	...	Lal (3 episodes, 1989)
Peter Lakenmacher	...	Ledesert (3 episodes, 1989)
Tony Mathews	...	Wallace (3 episodes, 1989)
Tilo Prückner	...	Dieter (3 episodes, 1989)
Roohi Raza	...	Naseem (3 episodes, 1989)
Ronan Vibert	...	Lee (3 episodes, 1989)
Michael Bertenshaw	...	Tyler (2 episodes, 1989)
Jonathan Docker-Drysdale	...	Lynch (2 episodes, 1989)
Rahat Kazmi	...	Dilshad (2 episodes, 1989)
Holger Mahlich	...	Prulager (2 episodes, 1989)
Sarah Mortimer	...	Margaret (2 episodes, 1989)
Wolfgang Rau	...	Werner (2 episodes, 1989)
Raahi Raza	...	Khushal (2 episodes, 1989)
Behroze Sabzwari	...	Ghani (2 episodes, 1989)
Werner Schwuchow	...	Kilmer (2 episodes, 1989)

Runtime:

315 min | USA:50 min (6 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German | Urdu

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:R | Australia:MA (episodes 1-3) | Australia:R (episodes 4-6) | UK:18 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK

Company:

Carnival Films

Movie Connections:

Remade as "Traffic" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Chamber Symphony in c minor, op. 110a

One of the best dramas created for TV

Traffik is a really well done 6 hour drama about drugs (circa 1987). It tells three stories, in parallel, about how opium is grown in North-East Pakistan, how drugs are smuggled from Pakistan into Europe, and finally, how people addicted to drugs spiral out of control. All three stories are told realistically and with empathy. You see enough of the characters lives to understand how ordinary people can get sucked into a life that is really immoral.

These aren't card-board cutouts, the opium grower is trying to feed his family in a dry area filled with guns and other opium growers. The drug smuggler is a rich German with no heart but his wife (one of the three main characters) is just an ordinary woman who has to choose between leading her life "the old way" or giving up. Finally the main character, the government minister has the toughest role as he must deal with the emotional devastation caused by his own daughter. She slips into the world of drug addiction and starts stealing, suffering from ill-health, attacking her parents emotionally, all so she can continue to satisfy her craving for the drug (heroin) that is destroying her life.

Traffik is one of the best dramas I have ever seen on TV. The scenes in this show will remain with you for a long, long time. Highly recommended. -- Colin Glassey