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Ultraviolet

  • TV Mini Series
  • 19981998
  • TV-14TV-14
  • 5h
IMDb RATING
7.9/10
2.7K
YOUR RATING
Jack Davenport, Idris Elba, Susannah Harker, and Philip Quast in Ultraviolet (1998)
HorrorSci-FiThriller
The six-episode series, first aired in 1998, stars Jack Davenport as Detective Sergeant Michael Colefield, who discovers a secret government vampire-hunting unit while investigating the disa... Read allThe six-episode series, first aired in 1998, stars Jack Davenport as Detective Sergeant Michael Colefield, who discovers a secret government vampire-hunting unit while investigating the disappearance of his partner.The six-episode series, first aired in 1998, stars Jack Davenport as Detective Sergeant Michael Colefield, who discovers a secret government vampire-hunting unit while investigating the disappearance of his partner.
IMDb RATING
7.9/10
2.7K
YOUR RATING
  • Stars
    • Jack Davenport
    • Susannah Harker
    • Idris Elba
  • Stars
    • Jack Davenport
    • Susannah Harker
    • Idris Elba
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 57User reviews
    • 10Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Episodes6

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated
    1 Season
    1998

    Photos21

    Jack Davenport and Susannah Harker in Ultraviolet (1998)
    Jack Davenport in Ultraviolet (1998)
    Jack Davenport in Ultraviolet (1998)
    Jack Davenport and Susannah Harker in Ultraviolet (1998)
    Susannah Harker in Ultraviolet (1998)
    Susannah Harker in Ultraviolet (1998)
    Jack Davenport and Susannah Harker in Ultraviolet (1998)
    Jack Davenport in Ultraviolet (1998)
    Jack Davenport, Idris Elba, and Susannah Harker in Ultraviolet (1998)
    Jack Davenport in Ultraviolet (1998)
    Jack Davenport in Ultraviolet (1998)
    Jack Davenport and Susannah Harker in Ultraviolet (1998)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jack Davenport
    Jack Davenport
    • Detective Sergeant Michael Colefield
    Susannah Harker
    Susannah Harker
    • Dr. Angela March
    Idris Elba
    Idris Elba
    • Vaughan Rice
    Philip Quast
    Philip Quast
    • Father Pearse J. Harman
    Colette Brown
    Colette Brown
    • Kirsty
    Fiona Dolman
    Fiona Dolman
    • Frances
    Thomas Lockyer
    • Jacob
    Sean Cernow
    Sean Cernow
    • Lestat
    Corin Redgrave
    Corin Redgrave
    • Dr. Paul Hoyle…
    Stephen Moyer
    Stephen Moyer
    • Jack…
    Elizabeth Earl
    • Angie's Daughter
    Georgia Goodman
    Georgia Goodman
    • Emilie
    Jane Slavin
    Jane Slavin
    • Danni
    Emer Gillespie
    Emer Gillespie
    • Marion
    Rupert Procter
    • Colin
    T.R. Bowen
    • Gideon
    Ronnie Letham
    • Pollard
    Christopher Villiers
    Christopher Villiers
    • Lester
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Creator Joe Ahearne never intended to write and direct all six episodes. While the producers commissioned scripts from other writers, they ultimately felt that no other writers or directors understood Ahearn's vision as well as he. The result was that Ahearn's time was consumed with the development of the first series, and he was never able to outline a second arc. Ahearn also admits that he believes high-concept series are best kept short, so that they don't run out of steam and have to be re-invented.
    • Quotes

      Father Pearse J. Harman: Our free range days are over.

    • Connections
      Remade as Ultraviolet (2000)

    User reviews57

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    Dark and stylish fun
    You might want to sit down. Ultraviolet is stylish, smart and dare I say it - British…

    British science fiction has a bad reputation with the people who commission programmes for television. It has often been lumped in with children's programming, or consigned to a minority channel with a minimal budget. With no chance of filming spectacle, the writers fell back on plotting and characterisation, it may have looked cheap and nasty, but the glory always lay in the writing. However, up against an endless supply of glossy, vacuous American imports British SF was an endangered species.

    Fortunately, Channel 4 were willing to take a risk when they commissioned Ultraviolet. They chose to make a series that subverted the staple police drama with vampires.

    Mention vampires to people and they may think of Christopher Lee in a cloak, a Californian teenage girl's extracurricular activities or the foppish dandies of Anne Rice's novels, but the legends go back into the depths of mythology. The vampire mythos has been in and out of fashion for the last couple of centuries. It was popular in the Victorian era in a society coloured by the grim world of the newly industrialised cities, infant mortality and mass illnesses. It languished for most of the last century, only to come out of the shadows with the onset of AIDS and worries for the environment.

    Ultraviolet takes the mythical vampire and gives it a twist. This is a world recognisably our own, but with a dark core. These vampires live in the shadows – not only the physical darkness of night, but they are also lurking in the gloomier parts of society. They have interests in cancer, AIDS and the outcasts of society. They manipulate society to their own ends through human servants – willing and otherwise.

    The Catholic Church – in connivance with the British government has set up a team to investigate suspicious events and where necessary to destroy the vampires. This is a long way from Buffy's stakes and a spell in the library. This team comes equipped with SWAT commandos, guns, grenades and all the latest scientific equipment.

    Jack Davenport plays a policeman who falls into this alternate world when one of his colleagues goes missing.

    The episodes do feature an ongoing thread which reaches a conclusion in the final episode. However, most of the plot of each episode is self-contained, so even if you chance across an odd episode you will be able to pick up the story. Ultraviolet is not suitable for children as it contains discussion of such topics as paedophilia and abortion –both subjects are sensitively handled, but are bound to offend some people.

    The makers chose to use actors that could do justice to the material. If you tuned in halfway through an episode without realising what you were watching you could easily believe it was a glossy detective drama. Dialogue is well handled and understated – they act and sound like government officials, not bit players in a Hammer Horror film.

    Visually it looks superb, it was shot on film and the screen glows with cool colours not normally seen outside of big budget productions. The producers took advantage of the London scenery, daytime scenes are set in the leafy suburbs, whilst night shots feature the seedier side of the metropolis – amusement arcades, grim tube stations and lonely streets. Special effects are used sparingly and are competently handled to propel the story forward.

    Six hour long episodes were made. Part of me would like to see more of this dark world, to see the development of the grand plot and the characters, but another part says that it would have been impossible to maintain the standard without repeating some of the plot lines.

    A minor classic.
    helpful•40
    7
    • mikerichards
    • Dec 31, 2000

    Details

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    • Release date
      • July 31, 2000 (United States)
      • United Kingdom
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Southwark Bridge, Southwark, London, England, UK
    • Production company
      • World Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 5 hours
      • Color
      • Stereo

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