''In Deep'' was a British crime drama series created by

Peter Jukes Peter Jukes (born 13 October 1960) is an English author, screenwriter, playwright, literary critic and journalist. He is the co-founder and executive editor of ''Byline Times''. Early life Jukes was born in Swindon, Wiltshire, England, and atte ...

, starring

Nick Berry Nicholas Berry (born 16 April 1963) is a retired English actor and pop singer. He is best known for his roles as Simon Wicks in ''EastEnders'' from 1985 to 1990, and as PC Nick Rowan in '' Heartbeat'' from 1992 to 1998. He sang UK chart sing ...

and

Stephen Tompkinson Stephen Phillip Tompkinson (born 15 October 1965) is an English actor, known for his television roles as Marcus in '' Chancer '' (1990), Damien Day in ''Drop the Dead Donkey'' (1990–1998), Father Peter Clifford in ''Ballykissangel'' (1996–9 ...

as undercover detectives Liam Ketman and Garth O'Hanlon. Three series, comprising a total of twenty-two episodes, aired on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

between 19 February 2001 and 4 March 2003. A complete box set containing all three series was released on 9 July 2012.

Plot

Initial press releases of In Deep stated that life as an undercover detective is demanding. One slip-up can result in disaster, something that Liam Ketman (

) and Garth O Hanlon (

) know only too well. The pressure of leading complicated double lives means that sacrifices must be made for the job and the impact on their personal lives is immense." Liam Ketman is described as a family man whose marriage is under strain because of his job as an undercover detective. Garth O'Hanlon is described as a character apparently devoid of emotional or family entanglements who deals with often extreme violence as part of his job. Actor Stephen Tompkinson said of the series, In Deep is a very gritty drama and not the kind of thing that I'm normally associated with. I think if the audience are expecting ''

Ballykissangel ''Ballykissangel'' is a BBC television drama created by Kieran Prendiville and set in Ireland, produced in-house by BBC Northern Ireland. The original story revolved around a young English Roman Catholic priest as he became part of a rural comm ...

'' or ''

Grafters ''Grafters'' was a British drama–comedy programme originally broadcast in the UK on ITV from 27 October 1998 to 20 December 1999 for 16 episodes over two series. ''Grafters'' relates the lives of the Purvis brothers Joe ( Robson Green) and ...

'' they're in for a surprise. This is not just another police show, it was seat of the pants stuff for us and the dramatic possibilities are endless. Tompkinson also commented on the work of real life undercover police officers. "There are only about 30 of these officers in this country, and they've got no fixed abode and no safety net when things go wrong, and it's terrifying really. They're always acting, pretending to be somebody else, and I found that fascinating that here was a real job with lives at risk, but where they act all the time. So In Deep is sort of a drama within a drama. Tompkinson was forced to change his appearance radically for every episode to suit each individual undercover persona. Whilst researching material for the series, writer Peter Jukes spent several weeks with real-life undercover police officers that infiltrate hard-core criminal operations, in order to find out what life is really like for them. The first series was shot over the course of thirteen weeks in and around

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Cast

as Liam Ketman,

detective sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

as Garth O'Hanlon,

detective constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal Police, law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Ot ...

* Lisa Maxwell as Pamela Ketman, Liam's wife (Series 1—2) * Karianne Henderson as Nicola Ketman, Liam's daughter (Series 1—3) * Buster Reece as Max Ketman, Liam's son (Series 1—3) *

Meera Syal Meera Syal FRSL (born Feroza Syal; 27 June 1961) is a English comedian, writer, playwright, singer, journalist and actress. She rose to prominence as one of the team that created '' Goodness Gracious Me'' and portraying Sanjeev's grandmother, ...

as Dr. Marta Drusic, police

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

(Series 1) *

Fiona Allen Fiona Allen (born 13 March 1965) is an English comedian and actress, most known for her work on Channel 4's ''Smack the Pony'' between 1999 and 2003. Career Allen has appeared in many sketch shows, including ''We Know Where You Live'' (Channel ...

as Dr. Sophie Masterson, police psychologist (Series 2—3) *

Vincenzo Pellegrino Vincenzo David Pellegrino (born 1967 in Liverpool, Merseyside) is an English actor who was in hospital drama ''Casualty'' from 1997–1999. He played Derek (Sunny) Sunderland, a porter. After leaving Casualty, he worked in '' Where the Heart ...

as Chris O'Hanlon, Garth's brother (Series 2) *

Carli Norris Carli Jo Norris (born 23 June 1974) is an English actress, known for her roles as Anoushka Flynn in '' Doctors'', Martha Kane in ''Hollyoaks'' and taking over the role of Belinda Peacock in ''EastEnders''. Career In June 1997, just before off ...

as Kelly Jensen,

(Series 2) * Kate Williams as Rose, Liam's mother-in-law (Series 3)

Episode list

Series Overview

*Series 1: 19 February 2001 to 6 March 2001 (6 Episodes) *Series 2: 7 January 2002 to 29 January 2002 (8 Episodes) *Series 3: 10 February 2003 to 4 March 2003 (8 Episodes)

Series 1 (2001)

Series 2 (2002)

Series 3 (2003)

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title, id=0271295, title=In Deep 2000s British drama television series 2001 British television series debuts 2003 British television series endings BBC television dramas 2000s British crime television series Television series by All3Media English-language television shows Television shows set in London