Wire in the Blood (2002– )

A psychologist gets inside of the minds of both killers and victims to aid the police in solving gruesome serial killings in Northern England.

Stars:

Robson Green, Mark Letheren, Emma Handy

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Robson Green	...	Dr. Tony Hill (31 episodes, 2002-2008)
Mark Letheren	...	DS Kevin Geoffries (28 episodes, 2002-2008)
Emma Handy	...	DC Paula McIntyre (24 episodes, 2003-2008)
Mark Penfold	...	Dr. Ashley Vernon (19 episodes, 2002-2007)
Simone Lahbib	...	DI Alex Fielding (16 episodes, 2006-2008)
Hermione Norris	...	DCI Carol Jordan (14 episodes, 2002-2005)

Storyline

Dark and twisting mystery series based on the characters created by Scottish crime writer Val McDermid. Set in the fictional English city of Bradfield, clinical psychologist Dr. Tony Hill is recruited as a criminal profiler for the police department. Aiding DCI Carol Jordan (and DI Alex Fielding in later episodes), the doctor's eccentric methods and deep understanding of the criminal mind help track down vicious serial killers and solve the most gruesome of crimes.

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Plot Keywords:

police | serial killer | psychiatrist | team | murder | 

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Taglines:

Enter the mind of a serial killer.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 November 2002 (UK)

Also Known As:

La fureur dans le sang

Company Credits

Production Co:

Coastal Productions, Circle Multimedia, Independent Television (ITV)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

69 min 50 min (6 episodes) 69 min (8 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The plastic "blue bag" that Tony Hill is often seen with was gleaned from Robson Green's research for Wire in the Blood, which involved spending time with revered criminal psychologist Julian Boon, who Green describes in part as an "extraordinary, intelligent, nice guy who carried his life in a blue bag and travelled on a double-decker bus. No-one looked at him twice."

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Connections

Referenced in Drama Trails: 'Coronation Street' to 'Kingdom' (2008)

User Reviews

Vivid, believable shows with a charismatic psychologist solving intriguing crimes

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.