"Edge of Darkness" (1985) TV mini-series

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

4 August 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

The mysterious death of his activist daughter, leads her straight-laced father, an Inspector of the local police force...

Plot Keywords:

Nuclear | Police | Environmental | Nuclear Plant | Political

Awards:

7 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Bob Peck	...	Ronald Craven (6 episodes, 1985)
Joe Don Baker	...	Darius Jedburgh (6 episodes, 1985)
Charles Kay	...	Pendleton (6 episodes, 1985)
Ian McNeice	...	Harcourt (5 episodes, 1985)
Joanne Whalley	...	Emma Craven (5 episodes, 1985)
Hugh Fraser	...	Bennett (4 episodes, 1985)
John Woodvine	...	Ross (4 episodes, 1985)
Jack Watson	...	James Godbolt (4 episodes, 1985)
Allan Cuthbertson	...	Chilwell (4 episodes, 1985)
Kenneth Nelson	...	Grogan (3 episodes, 1985)
David Fleeshman	...	Jones (3 episodes, 1985)
Zoë Wanamaker	...	Clemmy / ... (3 episodes, 1985)
Bill Stewart	...	Dingle (3 episodes, 1985)
T.R. Bowen	...	Childs (3 episodes, 1985)
Imogen Staley	...	Young Emma (3 episodes, 1985)
Paul Humpoletz	...	Elham (2 episodes, 1985)
Sarah Martin	...	Polly Pelham (2 episodes, 1985)
Paul Williamson	...	Bewes (2 episodes, 1985)
Tim McInnerny	...	Terry Shields (2 episodes, 1985)

Runtime:

317 min (6 parts) | Australia:307 min | Brazil:270 min (video version)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Gleneagles, Perth and Kinross, Scotland, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Joe Don Baker's character Jedburgh is the same as the code name of a WWII sabotage group that worked with the French underground to parachute agents behind enemy lines. The code name was taken from a Scotish town. His character's name is therefore suggestive of the sort of part he will play in the drama.

Quotes:

Ronald 'Ron' Craven: They all drowned.
Emma Craven: I know. I was there.
Ronald 'Ron' Craven: Why didn't you tell me?
Emma Craven: Dad... you were on their side
Ronald 'Ron' Craven: No!

Movie Connections:

Remade as Edge of Darkness (2010)

Soundtrack:

Christian Militia

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

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.