briansouter If you ever wondered what it takes to clear a NATO conference in under 2 minutes, this is your chance to find out. Edge of Darkness is a marvelous political ecothriller, telling of a Yorkshire policemans journey as he attempts to uncover the murder of his environmentalist daughter. Its a convoluted ride as Bob Pecks Inspector Craven learns of the intertwining of politics, capital and the nuclear industry' police informers and dodgy enviropolitics: the Grogans with their interplanetary empire powered by plutonium and an Earth(the GAIA mentioned thru the film is both an organisation and mother Earth) as Cravens daughter tells us will seek to destroy man. Im surprised this sort of film got made by the BBC in the Thatcher years, when it'd be impossible today. An interesting take is tho the daughter is killed early on, her presence is felt thru the entire film, as she appears time and again as a guiding spirit and emissary to Craven. Is he insane, as some may suggest? Is colorful CIA maverick Jedburgh mad at the end? The magnificent NATO conference scene which takes an unexpected turn says other wise. Definitely worth seeing and owning.

GrahamEngland I agree with those who say Edge Of Darkness is one of TV drama's finest moments.That it is set in it's time so instantly 'dated', matters not, that's the point.The Prime Minister is a she, an ex actor is US President, there is a new idea called the 'Star Wars' attracting the nuclear and defence industries.Bob Peck, so much missed, gives an incredible performance, the delectable Joanne Whalley will never be in anything better, the always reliable Joe Don Baker shines in a part he was born to play. The murkiness of the interconnected worlds of the civil service, politics, defence, the nuclear programmes, are well shown and credible.The 'Crimewatch' TV programme Craven appears on, asking for the public's help in investigating crimes, was as shown, with the same presenter then, for real. A rarely used device in drama then, it adds to the impact and credibility. (And anyone who has been to the Barbican complex in London, can understand how the police searching for those who have broken into the MI5 computer, could get themselves lost!)I disagree with those who say the first episodes were slow, they set the scene and built the tension, those not aware of the wider politics of 1984/5 Britain might find it a little hard to navigate however.Leading to another 'real life' cameo, the speaker from the Labour Party early in Ep.1 at Emma's college, decrying funding cuts, was then, is now, Labour MP Michael Meacher, on the left of the party (who then dominated), some calling him 'Tony Benn's Representitive On Earth'. Meacher became more moderate and was in Tony Blair's cabinet as Environment Minister until 2001, every time I saw him on screen I always thought of EoD.Making a movie version, 'updated', inevitably relocated to the US, was never going to work, we have a saying here, 'trying to put a Quart into a Pint pot'. With the inevitable dumbing down as so much of Hollywood continues to be insultingly patronising to it's audience.None of that in the original.Even this Clapton-phobe liked the soundtrack too.So buy the DVD and immerse yourself, I got my copy for just £3 in a sale, for 5 hours of the best quality drama-and people still talk of 'rip-off Britain?'

Dolescum A true classic of British television drama. I remember this from its original airing in the UK and the release of the remake prompted me to buy the DVD version of the original series to see if it still has the means to captivate.It does.I say you you watch this series first and yes it may seem a stretch at around 5 hours but this sets the bar that the newer production has to hit. I very much doubt however that it will as Hollywood can rarely ratchet up the tension in the way the 1985 version does without resorting to pyrotechnics and burning rubber. Mind you with the original Director at the helm, who knows what can happen.

deermice 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.