BBC television drama
BBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom. As with any major broadcast network, drama forms an importa ...
, produced by
Tiger Aspect Productions
Tiger Aspect Productions (formerly known as Tiger Television from 1988 until 1993 and also known as Tiger Aspect Films for theatrical films) is a British television and film production company, particularly noted for its situation comedies. Fo ...
for
BBC Northern Ireland
BBC Northern Ireland ( ga, BBC Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ''BBC Norlin Airlan'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of I ...
, starring
James Nesbitt
William James Nesbitt (born 15 January 1965) is an actor from Northern Ireland.
From 1987, Nesbitt spent seven years performing in plays that varied from the musical '' Up on the Roof'' (1987, 1989) to the political drama ''Paddywack'' (1994) ...
as an
undercover
To go "undercover" (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one's observation, and especially to disguise one's own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an ind ...
police officer
A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...
, Tommy Murphy. There were five series of the drama, shown 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, ...
. The first two were composed of individual stories. Series three, four and five were each single stories composed over multiple episodes.
Colin Bateman
Colin Bateman (known mononymously as Bateman) is a novelist, screenwriter and former journalist from Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland.
Biography
Born on 13 June 1962, Bateman attended Bangor Grammar School leaving at 16 when he was hired ...
adapted the pilot for a
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...
.
A sixth series has not been commissioned. In a 2008 interview, Nesbitt attributed this to the fifth series' ratings being damaged after it was scheduled opposite ITV's popular drama '' Doc Martin''.
All 23 episodes have since been released on DVD. All episodes from series two onwards were released as edited 50-minute masters instead of the 60-minute versions that were broadcast, except series 3 which was released uncut in the US. The first, second and third series were all released on 28 August 2006. The fourth and fifth series were released in a joint box-set on 15 October 2007.
Plot
Detective Sergeant Tommy Murphy (
James Nesbitt
William James Nesbitt (born 15 January 1965) is an actor from Northern Ireland.
From 1987, Nesbitt spent seven years performing in plays that varied from the musical '' Up on the Roof'' (1987, 1989) to the political drama ''Paddywack'' (1994) ...
) is an uncompromising, sometimes tough talking cop. He has no issues with using his charm and sense of humour to attempt to impress any woman, especially Annie, his colleague and later boss. Murphy was previously married with a young daughter, in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
. There, his family were taken hostage and he was forced to make a choice; either carry a
bomb
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...
and blow himself up in a local barracks, or have his daughter killed.
He originally chose the first option but when he got to the barracks he couldn't go through with detonating a bomb that would kill a hundred people. When he got back to the house, he found that they had slit his daughter's throat and that his wife had been forced to watch. His decision affected almost everything he does in life. He reflects at intervals, and remarks that he received 'a nice medal' for 'saving' so many lives, by making such a sacrifice. Yet, he still feels responsible for his daughter's death.
Cast
* D.S. Tommy Murphy -
James Nesbitt
William James Nesbitt (born 15 January 1965) is an actor from Northern Ireland.
From 1987, Nesbitt spent seven years performing in plays that varied from the musical '' Up on the Roof'' (1987, 1989) to the political drama ''Paddywack'' (1994) ...
* D.C.S. Edward Rees -
Michael Feast
Michael Feast (born 25 November 1946) is an English actor of stage and screen. He was born in Brighton, and trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He performed in the original 1968 London production of ''Hair''. He worked several ti ...
(Series 3)
* D.C.S. John Atwood - Robbie Gee (Series 5)
* C.S. Ken Bowry -
Ian Redford
Ian Petrie Redford (5 April 1960 – 10 January 2014) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a midfielder or forward. He played for Dundee before joining Rangers for a then Scottish record transfer fee. At Rangers he won in three d ...
(Series 5)
* D.C.I. Derek Warren - Francis Magee (Series 4)
* D.I. Annie Guthrie - Claudia Harrison (Series 1)
* D.I. Hilary Clark - Sarah Berger (Series 2)
* D.S. Paul Allison - Owen Teale (Series 3)
* D.S. Mitch Kershaw - Tim Dantay (Series 5)
* D.C. Alan Carter - Del Synott (Series 1-2)
* D.C. Michael Ollington - Shaun Dooley (Series 3)
* D.C. Kim Goodall -
Andrea Lowe
Andrea Lowe (born 1 May 1975 in Arnold, Nottinghamshire) is an English actress.
Career
She started her theatre career at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre in the play '' The Birthday Party'' by Harold Pinter.Series 5 character list from '' www.bbc.co.uk''
* D.C. Jackie Cole - Jessica Oyelowo (Series 5)
* Father McBride - Mark Benton (Series 1-2)