Edge of Darkness (1985) User Reviews

Haunting series

[Alex-372 · 9/10 · 4 January 2003]

Edge Of Darkness is and was an awesome series when it came out. Lean, melancholy, it exudes a sense of loss that almost perfectly mimics the bleak mood of the day - the Thatcher era, when Europe and the US were attempting to pull themselves out of a long running recession.

Bob Peck is the copper with the intelligence service background whose daughter and only child is murdered when an operative from his own past tries to kill him. How did he find him, was her death purely accidental, and can he find out, without cracking up first?

Soon enough, various British secret services, the CIA, dubious businessmen and national security are thrown into mix, and Peck must survive being thrown into the trickbag.

More than just a detective thriller, this series exudes the atmosphere of Margaret Thatcher's England, the eighties, recession and psychological and economic depression.

This is a very compelling detective series that transgresses into several other genres and issues (ghost stories, environmentalism and nuclear power) and thereby creates ever more interest in the viewer. Great, haunting score by Eric Clapton and Michael Kamen. Great acting from Bob Peck, Joanne Whalley, and a host of local British acting talent.

Innovative tv drama that has stood the test of time

[nigel-18854 · 9/10 · 27 February 2019]

If you not used to the 1970's 80's television production standards Edge of Darkness might seem a little threadbare. Indeed it's a source of lament that the kind of rough and ready 16mm film stock shoots that they used to get away with back in the 80's is no longer deemed acceptable. Yeah I will admit that the camera shake evident when Craven is driving the Porsche in the final episode goes a little too far in terms of grittiness, on the whole though, the shooting style works to throw the actors performances into relief, it's a kind of content over style kind of deal.

The script is realistic, gritty, grounded in the politics and events of this drama's era but there's also a hint of mysticism in Troy Kennedy Martin's work. The protagonist is depicted engaged in conversation with his deceased daughter and we're not sure if he'd deluded or experiencing a supernatural event. If he's deluded then it's a neat trick to get the audience to experience his delusion with him. The plot takes a twist half way through the narrative with the script more or less pointing out in literal terms that the resolution you were expecting isn't going to happen. A bold move indeed but I can't help but suspect that this might've been an afterthought interleaved into the script to support the final edit. This omission is the only reason I've marked it down to 9 stars because for me it's a significant void in an almost perfect drama.

Things to look out for are Bob Peck of course and an excellent performance from Joe Don Baker that makes Darius Jedburgh a vivid and complex character that jumps out of the screen.

Edge of seat

[Lejink · 8/10 · 2 March 2015]

One of the best-ever mini-series produced by the BBC, "Edge Of Darkness" is an enthralling and thought-provoking contemporary thriller series which starts off explosively with the shocking murder of the daughter of Police Inspector Craven (Bob Peck) right in front of him in the pouring rain and then follows him in an ever deeper and murkier search for the truth behind her death. The title could refer to a number of themes in the series, but principally must relate to Craven's own proximity to madness and death as he combats his grief to peel away the layers of bureaucracy at police and governmental level as he reveals a conspiracy to cover up a break-in at a nuclear power-station by a group of committed young eco-warriors, of whom his daughter was one. Indeed she was the sole survivor of the expedition as the rest of her group were callously drowned by the plant-controllers seeking to avoid the unwelcome publicity of the revelation of a potentially catastrophic incident at the plant.

The darkness of course also refers to the darker recesses of government departments and the intelligence services, in particular their collusion with the multi-million pound (and dollar) energy industry with whom they seem to have a not altogether healthy relationship. As the body-count mounts up, Craven strikes up some unusual alliances as he delves deeper for the truth, in particular hitching up with a renegade ex-CIA operative, played by Joe Don Baker, a bluff Texan with a penchant for golf. Eventually to learn the truth they must retrace his daughter's footsteps and break into the Northmoor site where they discover the full extent of the whitewash just in time to disrupt a pro-nuclear power seminar at Gleneagles where a new major contract is planned between commerce and government.

Over 6 tense, gripping episodes, we track Craven in his driven but still dogmatic quest. A widower, his daughter was all he lived for and after her death, he exists only to get justice for her, only to run into the sinister and covert operations of our so-called betters.

Peck is superb in the main part, his "Everyman" appearance and down-to-earth demeanour immediately engaging the viewer's interest and sympathy. Baker rampages through his part to the extent that he almost parodies the image of the big-mouthed Yank. Nevertheless even he finds some scruples as he dishes out a cold revenge to the big bosses before going out in a blaze of glory in the end. With every part, no matter how small, tellingly played and a forensic directorial style pushing the story forward all the time, it's no surprise it won so many awards at the time and got a big-budget Hollywood remake by the same director many years later. Eric Clapton's doleful blues guitar also makes for a suitably bleak backdrop, as does the Willie Nelson song "Time Of The Preacher".

I really appreciated getting the chance to see this high-quality drama which still stands up today.

Beyond words. One of the most remarkable pieces of television ever.

[jrice73 · 10/10 · 19 November 2009]

I had seen the original Edge of Darkness back in the middle eighties (around '86 or '87) when I was about 13 or 14. I didn't remember a lot about it but I knew that it was pretty special. I saw the trailer for the Mel Gibson version a few months back and decided to revisit the original for the first time in like 20 years. I just got finished watching a little while ago. My God. I'm speechless. One of the greatest pieces of television ever. What begins as a father trying to find justice and closure for his murdered daughter segues into a surprising and haunting look at the soul of humanity and its future place on this planet. Harlan Ellison would call this a dangerous vision and it is indeed that. One of the most remarkable television series I have ever seen and even with Martin Campbell directing the remake, I just don't see the film having the same gravitas as the original. You know to start commenting on this masterpiece, I feel I have to start with not its primary character, but its secondary one, here played by Joe Don Baker. Outside of the Walking Tall films, I didn't think much of Joe Don Baker. Boy was I wrong. His Darius Jedburgh is one of the most complex and unique heroes/anti heroes to ever grace the small screen. You're a bit repulsed by him at first, but then you fall in love with his character. His wit, cleverness and intelligence is remarkable and all from Baker doing what he needs to do. He is one of the good guys. "Man will always win against nature" he cynically says and that is rebuked near the end of the series by the last friend he will ever have in Bob Peck's Ronald Craven who says, "I think you're wrong. If there is a battle between the planet and mankind, the planet will win." Peck's Craven is what ultimately leads us to Jedburgh. Craven's the central character, a hard nosed yet honorable police detective who happens to be widowed and whose only daughter, Emma, is gunned down right in front of him. That begins a quest for Craven to uncover the truth behind Emma's death which leads what screenwriter Troy Kennedy Martin may have envisioned, a battle between the forces of light and darkness for custody of the planet. Peck's performance is cool, reserved, a slow burn but in his eyes, in his eyes is a man losing all hope, all control. Those eyes of his are full of emptiness and pain. The most beautiful thing in his ugly, cynical world has been taken away from him. And what he thinks is a revenge killing against him gone wrong, becomes an investigation into a dark, dangerous world where the future of all of us hangs in the balance. Each layer that Craven uncovers to what at first appears to be simple street crime reveals a labyrithian conspiracy that exists which only a few are aware of and which is edging Craven closer and closer to madness. Peck's Craven rarely breaks down, he's in control of a chaotic situation, but when he lets his character rage at the world, you see a man broken, trapped and drowning. His emotions, his gravity of character takes us truly to the edge of darkness. "I am not on YOUR SIDE," he screams towards the end, letting loose all that he has lost, his daughter, his sanity, his life, his world. The true nature of the world has been revealed to him and he is no better for it. This was and is groundbreaking material. I don't want to spoil the intriguing hard science fiction plot with a pinch of the mystical simply because that would be the series undoing. And this is hard science fiction firmly rooted in real science and real speculation. Just grab on to something or someone and take a ride where darkness envelopes all who enter and where nothing is really what it seems.

Television drama's finest five hours.

[mpk-2 · 7 July 2003]

Produced at the height of the nuclear paranoia and economic gloom that drove the Britain of Margaret Thatcher and the USA of Ronald Reagan, Troy Kennedy Martin's landmark drama broke new ground and handled uncomfortable subjects with sometimes unsettling depth and accuracy.

The late Bob Peck, in one of television's greatest performances, is Ronald Craven, a Yorkshire detective whose daughter Emma (Joanne Whalley) is gunned down outside their house in what is initially assumed to be a revenge attack related to Craven's former, and shadowy, intelligence past in Northern Ireland. The plot unwinds from here and slowly reveals a grand, all-encompassing conspiracy extending to the very highest levels as Craven investigates the circumstances of, and the motives behind, his daughter's death.

Peck plays Craven with a subtle emotional intensity rarely seen on television, the deadpan delivery of a man in the depths of grief contrasted by the emotions which his eyes always betray. A supporting cast of renegade CIA agents (Joe Don Baker giving the performance he was born for as brash Texan Darias Jedburgh), amiable but slightly sinister civil servants who never quite make it clear who they're working for (Charles Kay and Ian McNeice as Pendleton and Harcourt), environmental activists, trade-unionists, police and self-serving politicians make for a plot that twists and turns unpredictably as Craven's grief-powered explorations lead him ever deeper into the shadows, until the final, devastating, unexpected dénouement in the last episode that almost leaves more questions in the mind of the viewer than it answers.

This is British television drama at its best. Making it in the first place was a brave decision for the BBC, and it hasn't been bettered since. The plot sometimes seems slow at times, but there's always something relevant happening on screen. I do not recommend starting watching half-way through, as you will end up with an incomplete understanding of both the message of the story and the convoluted plot. Take the phone off the hook for five hours and enjoy. It is superb in all aspects from writing to casting to production, and exercises the mind in a way that few dramas do.

Incidentally - the original DVD release received poor reviews, but the 2003 re-release on a BBC DVD is excellent and includes some worthwhile extras as well as the complete uncut series.

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

[HenryHextonEsq · 10/10 · 9 April 2000]

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 *****)

The finest hours of television

[harri-21 · 10/10 · 21 December 2006]

I first saw a small clip of Edge of Darkness while visiting Britain during the 1986 BAFTA award ceremony and the imagery has haunted me ever since. After that I have seen it in several occasions, and even if I risk downplaying masterpieces like Bergman's "Fanny & Alexander" or Kieslowski's "Dekalog", for me this is still "the" TV series of all times.

For once every single piece of the production is fully supporting each other. Acting is superb, cinematography and editing terrific and music (by Eric Clapton) creates an unique atmosphere. Director Campbell and his team really knew their medium (this series actually looks better in a small TV set than on a large screen. After all, it was *designed* to be viewed that way!) At 1980s, the style and quality of Darkness was revolutionary. 20 years later it has been copied so often that it looks almost classical.

The complex plot that turns from labour union investigation to tale of grief and personal loss, to murder mystery, to international political thriller, to allegory of the eternal fight between forces of good and bad, to analysis of the philosophy behind environmental movement, is today as acute as it was 20 years ago. Most of all, however, Edge of Darkness is an exceptional TV drama that keeps you enchanted for all of its length. And it does offer the ultimate cliffhanger before the final episode...

TV can be Good

[steve_heaton · 10/10 · 9 September 2005]

While you could make a good argument that TV doesn't have much to offer as a medium, this mini series stands as a blazing example to the contrary.

I doubt if this story would of worked as a movie. The suspense is slowly built per episode. Nothing blatant. Lots inferred. Brilliant writing. Superb acting. Haunting. Funny. Disturbing. The story is probably as relevant now (2005) as it was back in '85.

The music score alone makes it worth adding to your DVD collection. Michael Karmen and Eric Clapton work magic on the score. (A poor copy following in Lethal Weapon 3).

When it's over your heart won't sing; you probably won't have a smile on your face. Maybe a tear on the cheek? However, you'll be glad you watched it and rave about it later.

It's a moving, gripping piece of work.

Superb, courageous television we're not likely to see again.

[dscott2 · 10/10 · 10 July 2000]

This is television nothing like US commercial TV. (And I include in that category not only network, but the tragically disappointing cable outlets.) Certainly, US public TV generally shied away from EOD - even, I'm afraid, NYC's flagship station. It was just too hot in the Age of Reagan. Also, I'm afraid, after Maggie Thatcher's gutting of the BBC, it will be rare there as well. What EOD offers is the complexity, the density, the reality of life - much like reading a novel, say, by John Le Carré at his best. And the acting! My God, those Brits - as Jedburgh says, they deserve the Falklands! One note that I can't resist: when we finally first see the cooling pool of Northmoor's plutonium holding - and remember that plutonium was named after the Greek God of the Underworld - Michael Kamen's music gives us a contrabass passage from Walton's "Belshazzar's Feast." And in that British cantata, the chorus sings "Thy sons shall be made eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon....By the waters of Babylon, we sat down, yea we wept...." And we sense what will be spelled out for us: the limitless depths of Grogan's international nuclear despotism. Like a fine novel, EOD deserves attentive and multiple viewings.

The BBC's finest ever production

[chris-mcmenamin · 10/10 · 24 December 2004]

I can only sum up Edge of Darkness with the following statement. Quite simply it is the best thing that the BBC ever made.

Bob Peck is magnificent as Craven. The ways in which he conveys the character's grief and slow descent into insanity while slipping in some dark humour meant that he fully deserved the BAFTA award he won. Also magnificent is Joe Don Baker as the hugely entertaining and eccentric Jedburgh. Episode 5 "Northmoor" which focuses on these two characters has to be seen to be believed.

Both main characters are ably supported by a range of established British actors with union leader Godbolt, Craven's superior Ross and of course the Civil Servant double-act of Pendleton and Harcourt all very intriguing with each adding their part to the mystery.

The use of film, Martin Campbell's direction, the opening sequences of each episode, Mat Irvine's visual effects, Eric Clapton's terrific score and most importantly Troy Kennedy Martin's fantastic script create a tense atmosphere and all combine to ensure that Edge of Darkness was and is one of the classiest and best thrillers ever produced. The plot twists and turns constantly but stay with it until the end. If you watch Episode 1 on the DVD you will be compelled to stick with it for a highly worthwhile 5 hours and at the end you might just wonder why the BBC have never put the licence fee to such good use since.

Gloomy but Potent.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 8 January 2011]

A Yorkshire police inspector's daughter is shot by a mysterious figure and dies in her dad's arms. Bob Peck spends the rest of the movie figuring out who killed her and why -- and he never shoots anybody. This stands in stark contrast to the Hollywood remake, in which the daughter's death merely provides an excuse for Mel Gibson to shoot everybody who looks at him cross eyed. This is the vastly better TV miniseries that provided the source for the remake.

And yet it's hard to evaluate. The story is contemporary and powerful. The inspector's daughter was a member of an organization called Gaia, after the Greek's earth goddess. She was investigating a supposedly abandoned storage facility for useless nuclear waste. (I'm going to try not to give too much of the plot away.) There's more too it than that, of course, and it takes Peck the entire four hours or so to bring the narrative to a conclusion, and a costly and ambiguous one at that.

There were a couple of bothersome features in the production though. I suppose it's difficult to lighten a story of a man grieving over the murder of his only relative. But that still leaves a lot of lugubrious close up of Peck's mournful face. The only time he seems to lose his melancholy is, sometimes, in the presence of the cheerfully antinomian CIA agent played by Joe Don Baker, whose bulk and flab add some materiality to the images. I perked up, too, when Allan Cutherbertson was on the screen, although I wish he were still ginger instead of gray. Eric Clapton, whom I admire very much both as a musician and a man, wrote a score that adds little to the film.

Another problem may be attributed to my own ignorance of those bureaucratic entities. There seem to be an enormous number of them and I lost count of who was who. Let's see. There is the Northern Police in Yorkshire, for which Peck works. Then there's the Metropolitan Police in London, somewhat at odds with the other. Then there's Scotland Yard. Then there's a special branch that reports directly to the PM, a shadowy force. Then the CIA. And those are just the agents of social control.

Among the civilians, or quasi-civilians, there is an Irish prisoner who works for somebody, a union whose boss is treacherous, and finally the corporation that wants to buy the nuclear storage facility with the goal of harnessing the power of the universe to destroy enemy missiles before they can leave their silos and then establish a "solar empire" led by "the United States of America -- and its allies." The corporation is called something like The Kansas Nuclear Fusion, Barbecue, and Car Wash Corporation.

For the middle two hours of this four-hour presentation I was thoroughly befuddled by the individuals representing these organizations and by the valences and goals of the organizations themselves. I didn't know who was following whom, or why.

From time to time Peck hallucinates conversations with his now-dead daughter (Whaley) and in the last one she tells him that even if man destroys himself the planet will survive. Black flowers will grow, and they'll absorb the sun's heat and melt the polar ice caps and the earth will be watered and flourish again. (Something like that.)

When Peck and Baker are having their last conversation -- both drunk and dying by degrees -- Baker airily dismisses the argument and tells a story about seeing Russian soldiers in Afghanistan eating black flowers, from which he draws the conclusion that man will destroy himself and the planet along with him. I told you the story was powerful. But the last shot is of the snow-patched shore of a Scottish lake and we see black flowers shivering in the wind. So I guess the earth wins -- maybe. Or, as Ernest Hemingway said, "Wouldn't it be pretty to think so?"

Watermark for conspiracy dramas

[quinch-anz · 10/10 · 5 May 2005]

Fifteen years after I first saw this masterpiece it stands up frighteningly well.

The true sign of the class of the whole production is the sheer number of moments that stick with you years later - often at a subliminal level.

After Jedburgh and Grogan it is hard to take any American at face value even today.

The script is taut, the production is visually and aurally inventive and still compelling (without the CGI refuge so common today), the performances from lead to single-scene are never less than superb - and then there is the soundtrack...

Dated somewhat (inevitable given the lack of mobile phones!) the quality of direction makes this something that everyone should see at least once...

A dissenting opinion

[bandw · 6/10 · 5 July 2010]

This story of a Yorkshire cop, Ronald Craven, who pursues an investigation of the murder of his daughter that leads to political intrigue did not have enough going for it for me to feel that it was worth the five hour investment.

The initial sequences could have been more focused so that the main players and their functions were more clearly identified. Between all the ministers, policemen, agents, hearing attendees, and so forth, it took awhile to sort them all out. Then there are characters that come out of nowhere whose role I was never certain of, like Clemmy who was introduced simply as "a friend of Jedburgh." Before we have any idea about her, Craven is in bed with her.

A major irritant for me was Craven's being talked to by his dead daughter Emma. She not only talks to him, but appears as a ghost image. Maybe the screenwriter was thinking of the effectiveness of Shakespeare's using the ghost of Hamlet's father in "Hamlet." But we are not talking "Hamlet" here, since the ghost of Craven's daughter gives advice at the level of how to load laundry. I think the use of Emma's ghost came from the perception that the story needed an attractive female in the cast. Not content to borrow from Shakespeare, the screenwriter took a page out of Bergman's "The Virgin Spring" by having a mysterious spring appear at the site of Emma's murder.

There are a host of improbabilities and near absurdities. How was it that Craven was able to get entry to an empty control center where he could break into an MI6 computer? How did the people at Northmoor know that Craven et al. were coming? How did Nedburgh escape from Northmoor? Why were the Brits secretly processing plutonium in the first place?--the U.S. and Britain had been cooperating closely on nuclear development since the 1950s. The map of the mine was one hundred years old but "had not changed an inch." Really? The installation of a nuclear facility and bomb shelters had not altered the plans in the interim? And the idea that an old phone dating from the 1950s would still have a direct connection to a closet at 10 Downing Street was rather absurd--even Dick Tracy rarely used such a contrived escape. I could go on.

Joe Don Baker really gets into his role as the spunky and witty CIA agent Darius Jedburgh and he is the bright spot as far as the acting goes. The rest of the cast turns in journeyman's work. I found Bob Peck's performance a bit flat, but then the role did not demand much more than he manfully handle his grief, which he accomplished by looking worried and glum.

There is some heavy pontificating near the end between Jedburgh and Craven about the outcome of the standoff between mankind and the earth. Can mankind ultimately destroy the earth or can the earth always be able to handle whatever mankind can throw at it? I think that if mankind threw a full scale nuclear war at the earth, then earth may survive, but mankind would not.

Willie Nelson's song "Time of the Preacher" comes up two or three times and from that I deduced that it must have some deep significant message that applies to the film, but I could never figure that out. Maybe the screenwriter just liked the song? Initially I found the guitar score by Eric Clapton and Michael Kamen to be creative and intriguing, but it soon became repetitive and monotonous.

I thought the mini-series "State of Play" was fantastic, but "Edge of Darkness" was pretty much lost on me.

Dated

[paintitfish · 2/10 · 17 November 2019]

Although the story itself is quite interesting it has not aged well at all - the clothes acting and dialogue are all extremely dated making it virtually unwatchable

A brilliant thriller ahead of its time.

[Rocko-6 · 30 December 1998]

Bob Peck, perhaps best known to American audiences as game warden Robert Muldoon in JURASSIC PARK, portrays a police inspector obsessed with solving his daughter's murder. His investigation leads him not only into his own past but into subversive anti-government groups, international intelligence conspiracies, and globalist elitism. This brilliant program, produced in 1986, goes beyond the Cold War and successfully predicts the darker side of globalism, the rise of New Age, pagan belief systems, and the government paranoia which keeps "The X-Files" in business. Another plus is Joanne Whalley-Kilmer as the murdered girl, who keeps appearing and conversing with her father. This cleverly serves not only an expository device, externalizing for the viewer the motivations and rationales behind one man's solitary mission, but also reminds us how unbalanced Peck's character truly is. This is an intelligent, thought-provoking program that only improves upon further viewings.

Still holds up after 23 years

[deermice · 10/10 · 7 November 2009]

I originally saw the episodes in 1986 when it first showed on American television. I don't think I had a VCR at the time but I assumed it would be on again - I realized that this was a truly incredible piece of work and I looked forward to seeing it again. Unfortunately, it wasn't on TV again but I kept the TV Guide that advertised it the first time to remind me of the title and when I signed up with Netflix a couple of years ago I put it on the list even though it wasn't available. I already knew it wasn't available for sale on U.S. formatted DVDs, but I could hope Netflix might do a conversion. Eventually it became available and I received it in the mail just last week. When it had first come out, I was in my mid-20s and I fell in love with the idea of Gaia and the notion that the planet will survive despite what we do. I remembered very emotional scenes, great sadness, and haunting music. Would it mean the same to me now as it did back then? Well I wasn't disappointed. If anything, it might have been even better than I remembered. The betrayal of the Bob Peck character is still gut-wrenching even in light of my more realistic view of politics and the world in general. I hadn't remembered that the character of Emma, although killed within the first few minutes of the first episode, continues to haunt and speak with her father throughout the show, appearing and disappearing unexpectedly. The music is so simple yet so intense - guitar strokes floating through the air and the sudden appearance of a Willie Nelson song - they support the story incredibly well. I'm still not sure I completely understand the story line but I don't think it matters. That confusion just reinforces the notion that the good guys and bad guys are mostly interchangeable and no one can be relied on except for Craven and his American CIA buddy, both of who undergo epiphanies but had to die to get there.

Hugh Fraser worked well in his role and Tim McInnerny was a great surprise as a very sinister and cowardly character, quite unlike his bumbling (and very funny) Black Adder character, Percy. I didn't even recognize him.

I'm so glad I got to see this show again and I would rank it easily in the top ten best TV shows of all time.

It was worth it

[widal · 10/10 · 22 January 2002]

After great trouble I finally got my two disc edition of EOD from England. This was the series I had originally seen propably during 1987 here in Finland. All I could remember about series was haunting pictures of black flowers in the snow. And I knew it was something worth to wait for. I spend two nights watching this great show. I really felt the pain of Ronnie Craven, and finally understood that there were no more life for him to live, just this one quest left. I recommmend this series for those who can concentrate for drama that demands maybe little more attention than shows normally do these days. But you will be rewarded. I myself loved it. After so many years of waiting and dreaming... it was worth it!

Bob Peck's finest

[tosinner · 10/10 · 8 May 2004]

From a time when Bob Peck just would not get off of my telly (and rightly so!) a fantasticly dark and quirky tale that starts well, pieces together smartly (especialy the full version) and builds towards one fantastic ending.

To begin with we have a detective investigating what seems to be a simple attempted murder... and then, well, yah would have to watch it, but make sure you don't miss any. And beware of americans bringing gifts! ;-) There are few films that would rival such a plot around, and the series as a whole carefuly adds new information and intestest at a rate that will keep you guessing.

Remarkable

[MTS · 10/10 · 12 March 2001]

I bought the video for this a year or two ago. I just decided to start watching it last Saturday night. It would be my first viewing of "Edge of Darkness" since its original airing back in the eighties. It was late Saturday night when I started, intending only to watch a couple of hours. It was 4:30 in the morning when it finished and I could make my way to bed.

Brilliant, understated performances (except for Joe Don Baker who is never understated but, nevertheless, gives what has to be one of his finest performances) to go with the excellent writing. A personal story while sweeping in its scale, I was on the edge of my seat even though I had already seen it and knew how it ended. However, I had forgotten quite a bit of the story so I was riveted throughout.

If you remember seeing it, go out and buy the video. Then pass it along. Something this good should not be left to the mercy of (non-existent) reruns. Your friends will not be able to stop watching the video and they will thank you for it.

Best of the best

[BigBANGtheory · 10/10 · 2 February 2006]

This is the closest to perfection a TV-mini series could hope to reach it simply doesn't get any better than this. You know how some dramas start well, build up to an exciting mid-point but ultimately fall short in their conclusion? Well 'Edge of Darkness'is not one of those, it starts strongly, builds up to some unforgettable moments and delivers a god-like finale. All this without leaving annoying plot holes, questions, doubts and not by any means spoon feeding the viewer a linear simplistic plot line.....Pure Genius this is THE Thriller by which all others should be compared.

'24' by modern times is good yes but it limps along compared to 'Edge of Darkness'.

'Das Boot' is perhaps the closest rival in my opinion though I look forward to a day when it is eventually bested by a modern production.

If you haven't seen it, do so! Its still very watchable even though filmed in 1985.

Wonderful!

[ccassis007 · 10/10 · 7 November 2003]

My Wife had been going on and on about this movie she saw when she was younger. It took a while but I found it. Edge of Darkness was absolutely wonderful! A wonderful Plot line that kept me on the edge of my seat for all 5 hours.

Bit of a plod, actually.

[epat · 6/10 · 17 October 2021]

A friend recently turned me onto the 6-part UK miniseries Edge of Darkness. I'd previously heard there was a series, but even tho I'd seen the 2010 movie of the same name, I was under the erroneous impression the series was some kind of unrelated housewives' soap opera akin to Days of Our Lives.

The plot was intriguingly original & Bob Peck's stone-faced Craven was suitably stoic, if a bit dull. As a result, Joe Don Baker's over-the-top Jedburgh far overshadowed the main character. Ian McNeice, Zoë Wanamaker & Jack Watson were also commendable in supporting roles as Harcourt, Clemmy & Godbolt respectively.

One truly jarring note tho: While poking thru his dead daughter's things, Craven sniffs & even kisses her dildo?? WTF? Ok, we see he loves his daughter to distraction, but that's downright creepy & takes us in directions there was simply no reason to go.

Given that the series ran in 1985, I tried hard not to judge it by today's standards. Overall tho, it was a bit of a plod; four episodes would have been better than six. The length & pace were all the more dreary for the portentously dramatic '50s-style thriller soundtrack obtruding throughout, aggravating as canned laughter in a comedy.

A brilliant edgy thriller

[bryanmorand · 10/10 · 16 January 2004]

I just added this BBC made thriller to my DVD collection and it is one of my favourite television dramas. I saw it when it first came out in 1986 and with a brilliant script and superb acting, it is a true masterpiece of television drama.

If you have haven't seen it you are missing out on quality entertainment.

Film noir mini-series a curio. 7.25/10

[dfle3 · 7/10 · 23 December 2010]

Perhaps this 1985 mini-series could be described as "film noir"...it has a policeman as its central figure and its scenes are often murky and gloomy, fitting the story being told. That story concerns the deaths of environmental activists in a secret industrial complex. The central character, Ronald Craven (played by Bob Peck) has a personal stake in uncovering those deaths.

The style of the mini-series is often minimalist...the first episode, at least, has very little music/score. Interestingly, what soundtrack there is is supplied by legendary guitarist Eric Clapton and his collaborator here Michael Kamen. Kamen, I believe, conducted the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra years later in a Metallica concert! By the by, there is a credit for Dickie Bird for the film sound. It's not the famous English cricket umpire, but I'm surprised that there are two people with that name on this Earth!

There is an odd approach to the storytelling at times...one scene has Ronald Craven kissing a particular item of someone close to him. It is strangely moving but with the wrong crowd watching it could be spoiled as an emotional moment. Another constant feature of the mini-series is the ghostly presence of one of the characters. If that kind of otherworldly appearance in the material world is likely to bother you, then this may be a problem here...but really it's just a psychological manifestation of grief, as I see it.

Whilst trying to uncover the murderer/conspirators, Craven has the assistance of murky U.S. figure Darius Jedburgh (Joe Don Baker). Baker's performance is against the noir-ish grain here...he's jovial and somewhat of a comedic figure. Perhaps his performance is too 'square peg in a round hole'?

It seems to me that the final episode is a little too ripe as far as my tastes go in the exposition of the motivation for some of the characters. In other words it doesn't seem too sophisticated...but maybe there really are people in that position who espouse that kind of philosophy.

Speaking of philosophy, you can see a different approach to this in the Mel Gibson movie of the same name, released earlier this year. It takes a typical Hollywood approach to this kind of subject matter. As a result, you miss all the interesting philosophical discussion you get in the original mini-series...especially as found in the final episode. For that reason the original does have something of particular interest to it.

Not exactly sure, but I think I watched the original mini-series many years ago. Recently it was repeated on ABC2 here in Australia.

An interesting enough story, involving the scary world of nuclear power...and mankind's continued existence on Earth (when at its most philosophical). Those who like their stories action packed and adrenaline filled may be disappointed by the slow-burn approach of this mini-series.

Video #1 is really slow

[jimadamgolfer · 5/10 · 1 August 2003]

I would have quit on this film early if I hadn't paid my $2 and the tape was copy protected, so watching later was not an option. While the British accents weren't hard to understand, a lot people places and things were foreign to me. Also, some conversations got very quiet, I should have tried close caption. However, in video tape #2 the plot got moving and I am surprised that no one complained that things went a little overboard. Companies may cook the books for personal gain, but investment operations are far too open.

This film was interesting and remarkable, but at 5 hours, whoa. Skip video tape #1. It is hard to get the image of 32,000 large nuclear bombs located around the world, to worry too much about a stockpile of weapons grade materials in Scotland.