Edge of Darkness 

When his daughter Emma is murdered, cop Craven discovers, that she was in a GAIA group of activists occupied with exposing Northmoor nuclear waste storage facility for illegal activities.

Stars:

Bob Peck, Joe Don Baker, Charles Kay

7 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Bob Peck	...	Ronald Craven 6 episodes, 1985
Joe Don Baker	...	Darius Jedburgh 6 episodes, 1985
Charles Kay	...	Pendleton 6 episodes, 1985
Ian McNeice	...	Harcourt 5 episodes, 1985
Joanne Whalley	...	Emma Craven 5 episodes, 1985
Hugh Fraser	...	Bennett 4 episodes, 1985
John Woodvine	...	Ross 4 episodes, 1985
Jack Watson	...	James Godbolt 4 episodes, 1985
Allan Cuthbertson	...	Chilwell 4 episodes, 1985
Kenneth Nelson	...	Grogan 3 episodes, 1985
David Fleeshman	...	Jones 3 episodes, 1985
Zoë Wanamaker	...	Clemmy / ... 3 episodes, 1985
Bill Stewart	...	Dingle 3 episodes, 1985
T.R. Bowen	...	Childs 3 episodes, 1985
Imogen Staley	...	Young Emma 3 episodes, 1985
Paul Humpoletz	...	Elham 2 episodes, 1985
Sarah Martin	...	Polly Pelham 2 episodes, 1985
Paul Williamson	...	Bewes 2 episodes, 1985
Tim McInnerny	...	Terry Shields 2 episodes, 1985

Storyline

The mysterious murder of an environmental activist leads her straight-laced father, an Inspector of the local police force, through a haunting revelation of the murkiness of the British Nuclear Policy of the eighties.

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Plot Keywords:

nuclear power plant | police officer | central intelligence agency | 1980s | police | 

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Taglines:

The cult 80s eco-thriller starring Bob Peck and Joanne Whalley.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The scenes in Northmoor were filmed in Wales.

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Quotes

Ronald Craven: [referring to Darius Jedburgh] . A man of few words.
Clemmy: When he's sober.

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Connections

Featured in The Greatest: 100 Greatest TV Characters (2001)

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Soundtracks

Time of the Preacher
Willie Nelson

User Reviews

TV Drama simply dosen't get any better than this.

UK TV Drama has never again scaled the heights set by Edge of Darkness and Dennis Potter's "The Singing Detective" in the mid-1980s. Those two series have narratives, dialogue, style and acting that few filmmakers can match.

Troy Kennedy Martin came up with a complex, magnificent script, that balanced the bleak with the entertaining. All of the major characters come across as believable, and often enigmatic.

The plot evolves ingeniously from being a local murder case to a universal ecological parable throughout the 6 episodes. It defies categorisation, combining lyricism with tense action sequences. The "Northmoor" episode is as tense an hour of TV as there's ever been. Joe Don Baker gives a virtuoso performance as the truly larger-than-life maverick CIA agent, Darius Jedburgh whose motives are ambiguous to say the least. Charles Kay and Ian McNeice are wonderfully entertaining as Pendelton and Harcourt. Even Tim McInnerny's character with just a few minutes screen time is superbly written and played. It is, however, Bob Peck who should receive the most acclaim for what is to my mind one of the most complex, emotional and well-judged performances ever as Yorkshire policeman, Ronnie Craven. Craven gets caught up in a sinister and fascinating chain of events involving the death of his environmentalist daughter, played very well by Joanne Whalley-Kilmer. Bob Peck's early death was saddening- he deserved another role of this magnitude. Other factors that add to the genius of EoD are the atmospheric Eric Clapton/Michael Kamen score, the gritty direction, photography and the sheer attention to detail in every department.

It's truly a shame that few people today working on TV drama are willing at least to try to experiment and create television as artistic and exciting as "Edge of Darkness." It should go without saying that anyone who's not seen it should buy the video- you won't regret it. Rating:- ****** (out of *****)

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 August 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Edge of Darkness

Filming Locations:

Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Lionheart Television International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

317 min (6 parts) 270 min (video)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1