"Wire in the Blood" Prayer of the Bone (2008)

Director:

Declan O'Dwyer

Writer:

Patrick Harbinson (writer)

TV Series:

"Wire in the Blood" (2002)

Original Air Date:

7 January 2008

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Tony Hill finds himself in unfamiliar surroundings when he travels to Texas to assist the local district...

Plot Keywords:

Team | Serial Killer | Investigation | Police | Murder

Cast

Robson Green	...	Dr. Tony Hill
Naima Imani Lett	...	Anita Addison
Brad Hawkins	...	Darius Grady
Merrilee McCommas	...	Julie Rice
Dell Johnson	...	Sheriff Phelps
Ryan Rutledge	...	Amare Phelps
Drew Waters	...	Ray Decosio
Nicole Taylor	...	Loren Grady (as Nicole Lin Taylor)
Luke Gatewood	...	Jake Grady
Jenna Craig	...	Lucy Grady
Jennifer Griffin	...	Judge Downing
Julio Cedillo	...	Luis Borgos
Tom Nowicki	...	Lee Burrill
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pablo D. Flores	...	Prisoner #2
Brandon Lilly	...	U.S. Soldier
Kana LiVolsi	...	Detective
Cass Naumann	...	Smoking nun

Runtime:

UK:87 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Coastal Productions

Quotes:

Anita Addison: I've never slept with an Englishman before.
Dr. Tony Hill: That makes two of us.

Tartan Noir Transplanted to Texas?

Psychologist Tony Hill (Robson Green) has been brought in from England to testify for the prosecution as to the mental state of a former soldier accused of murdering his wife and children in Texas. While stationed in England the man had been charged with statutory rape and interviewed by Tony but before he could be prosecuted the military had transferred him back home to Texas.

This one off 90 minute episode is still an entertaining story but it's not as good as the regular series.

The changes apart from the locale include a different role for Tony in the case that of an expert witness which I feel comes across as a less interesting view of the proceedings than assisting in the investigation. Also there are no regular supporting characters although Tony does call DI Alex Fielding (Simone Lahbib) and get her voice mail, which just served to point out for me how much I missed her character. There are also a few Hollywood contrivances that take away from the story structure.

Maybe British audiences like the change to an American locale but it doesn't seem as appealing to me. The sweltering Texas heat and dry, arid sun, drenched vistas are certainly a change from the English landscape but they don't appreciably improve the presentation in my opinion.

The supporting cast is competent but none of the characters stand out particularly, perhaps because they are a little to thinly drawn and possibly somewhat caricatured.

A very similar approach by another British series Kavangh QC in which the primary character journeyed to the American South to lend his expertise. The biggest problem with that episode was its condescending attitude towards America and while it's by and large avoided here there are still some traces of that attitude in the production. The series Cracker also did a one off episode in Hong Kong with only one supporting character, and my conclusion from all three is that the supporting cast is integral to these series.