Shoot to Kill (1990) (TV)

User Rating:

9.4/10   

Director:

Peter Kosminsky

Writer:

Michael Eaton (writer)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Northern Ireland | Based On True Story

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Vass Anderson	...	Magistrate
Rod Arthur	...	Intelligence Officer
Ray Ashcroft	...	Constable Frederick Robinson
Susan Baker	...	Beryl Taylor
Barry Birch	...	Michael Tighe
Laurence Bourne	...	Mr. Harvey
Frank Brennan	...	Special Branch Inspector
Paul Brennen	...	Soldier at Keady sanger
Philip Bretherton	...	Detective Inspector Ron Gaffey
Anton Brookes	...	Roddy Carroll
Richard Butler	...	Chief Constable Colin Sampson
David Calder
Colin Carnegie	...	Ballistics Expert
Peter Cellier	...	MI5 Officer
Tony Clarkin	...	Sergeant William Montgomery
Hugo Conlon	...	Sergeant
Arthur Cox	...	Belfast Officer
Jane Cunliffe	...	Detective Sergeant Eileen Scarrett
Kieran Cunningham	...	Sean Burns
Niall Cusack	...	Pat Finucane
Anthony Dawes	...	Senior Home Office Official
Martin Dempsey	...	Defence Counsel at Brannigan´s trial
Fraser Downie	...	Detective Chief Inspector Jim Smellie
Patrick Drury	...	Detective Inspector
James Duggan	...	Chief Information Officer W. McGookin
Christopher Dunne	...	E4a 1
Anthony Dutton	...	Senior Officer
Peter Ferris	...	TV Researcher
Jackie Fullerton	...	Himself (archive footage)
John Gannon	...	SB Officer
Terry Gilligan	...	SSU Officer
John Graham	...	Minister
James Greene	...	Director of Public Prosecution for Northern Ireland
Steve Halliwell	...	Sergeant Quinn
Aaron Harris	...	Sergeant "A".
Richard Hawley	...	Constable John Robinson
Denys Hawthorne	...	Professor Marshall
B.J. Hogg	...	E4a 3
Dick Holland	...	Constable "2".
Gerard Horan	...	E4a informant handler 1
William Ilkley	...	Prison Warder
Mark Jordon	...	Detective Sergeant Keith Farrington
Christopher Kent	...	Helicopter co-pilot
Gillian Kerrod	...	Landlady
John Keyes	...	Mr. Lavery
John Laing	...	Operations Room Officer
Peadar Lamb	...	Mr. Tighe
Nicholas Lamont	...	Eugene Toman
Oengus MacNamara	...	Constable Hamilton
Noel Magee	...	RUC Special Branch Officer
Oliver Maguire	...	Detective Superintendent Thomas George Anderson
Gerry Markey	...	Seamus Grew
Barbara Marten	...	Stella Stalker
Max Mason	...	David Burton
Ronnie Masterson	...	Mrs. Tighe
Tony Mathews	...	H.M. Inspector of Constabulary for the North West
Des McAleer	...	CID Superintendent Jimmy Richards
Aine McCartney	...	McKerr´s wife
Emer McCourt	...	E4a 2
Jimmy McCrudden	...	Judge Gibson
Ian McElhinney	...	Assistant Chief Constable Trevor Forbes
Tom McGill	...	RUC Sergeant
Breffni McKenna
Jon McKenna	...	Drugs Squad Officer 1
T.P. McKenna	...	Sir John Hermon
Walter McMonagle	...	Transport Officer
Bernard Merrick	...	Senior Training Officer
Eleanor Methven	...	Headmistress
Steve Money	...	Special Branch Officer
George Mooney	...	Assistant Chief Constable
Dermod Moore	...	Garda Officer
Trevor Moore	...	Liaison Officer
Mark Moraghan	...	Special Branch Constable
Olivia Nash	...	McKerr´s mother
Des Nealon	...	Off-duty RUC Sergeant
David J. Nichols	...	Training Assistant
Doc O'Brien	...	Dominic McGlinchey
Liam O'Callaghan	...	Mr. Campbell
Michael O'Hagan	...	Special Branch Superintendent i / c Registry
Geoff Oldham	...	Reporter
Daragh O'Malley	...	Constable "1".
Jim Reid	...	SB Officer
Peter Richey	...	RUC Driver
Stevan Rimkus	...	The IRA Informant
Paddy Rocks	...	RUC Officer
John Saint Ryan	...	Detective Inspector John Simons
Mike Savage	...	Drugs Squad Officer 2
Anthony Schaeffer	...	Priest
George Shane	...	Detective Superintendent Thomas George Anderson
Jack Shepherd	...	John Stalker
Michael Simkins	...	Inspector Brian Jackson
Kevin Stoney	...	Judge Kelly
Maggi Stratford	...	Secretary
Nick Stringer	...	Kevin Taylor
Tip Tipping	...	Jarvais McKerr
Peter Vollebregt	...	Herman´s secretary
Gary Whelan	...	Constable David Brannigan
Robert Whelan	...	Soldier at portacabin
Christopher Whitehouse	...	Armourer
Philip Wilde	...	Officer At The Hayshed
Derek Young	...	Constable McCloy

Runtime:

222 min | UK:212 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Yorkshire Television (YTV)

Very Unbiased

I had thought right away that because SHOOT TO KILL had the name Peter Kominsky in the credits I`d be watching an entirely biased , speculative infactual docudrama that portrayed Northern Ireland policeman as SS troopers while armed terrorists were going to be shown as being either fiesty freedom fighters or peace loving pacifists . I must say I was surprised

This docudrama revolves around the very real life case of the investigation brought against E4A , the Royal Ulster Constabulary ( RUC ) elite undercover unit who were responsible for shooting dead several republican terrorists engaged in terrorist activities in 1982 . This led to the director of public prosecutions in Britain setting up " The Stalker Inquiry " where Deputy Chief Constable John Stalker ( Played here by Jack Shepard ) of Manchester police force investigated the cases to see if there were any unlawful killings by the RUC .

As I stated at the start of this review as was expecting there to be pro republican bias throughout but there`s none . In fact it`s a refreshing change to see terrorists in Ireland portrayed as terrorists with SHOOT TO KILL opening with a car bombing that murders three police reservists . The teleplay also shows the resentment shown by RUC men that the British state are investigating them when they`re engaged in a conflict against ruthless killers and Stalker is told " In the last year tweleve policemen , twenty eight soldiers and fifty seven innocent civilians have died at the hands of terrorists " , so thanks to the production team for pointing out that the IRA and INLA are not the boy scouts . The only thing the RUC men seen here are guilty of is that they falsified statements when engaged in their dangerous activities , and that they shot a couple of teenage boys who they genuinely thought were IRA members , and if after watching this you left unsatisfied by the conclusions the real life The Stalker Inquiry met the same fate as shown on screen here