"Wire in the Blood" (2002) TV series 2002-????

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | unknown

Release Date:

20 August 2002 (Denmark)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Enter the mind of a serial killer.

Plot Keywords:

Psychiatrist | Police | Murder | Investigation | Team

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Robson Green	...	Dr. Tony Hill (25 episodes, 2002-2008)
Mark Letheren	...	DS Kevin Geoffries / ... (23 episodes, 2002-2008)
Emma Handy	...	DC Paula McIntyre / ... (18 episodes, 2003-2008)
Mark Penfold	...	Dr. Ashley Vernon (18 episodes, 2002-2007)
Hermione Norris	...	DCI Carol Jordan (14 episodes, 2002-2005)
Simone Lahbib	...	DI Alex Fielding / ... (11 episodes, 2006-2008)

Runtime:

50 min (6 episodes) | 69 min (8 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M (some episodes) | Australia:MA (DVD rating)

Company:

Coastal Productions

Trivia:

The title "Wire in the Blood" is a phrase that comes from T.S. Eliot’s "Four Quartets": "The trilling wire in the blood / sings below inveterate scars / appeasing long-forgotten wars." As for the meaning, in an interview Robson Green said the phrase was taken to mean a genetic kink, something impure and unusual in the blood, that leads to the kind of psychosis Dr. Tony Hill might deal with. Series writer Val McDermid says: "Who knows what Eliot really meant by that line? Robson's explanation is as good as any. For myself, I've always taken it to be a metaphor for the thrill of adrenaline surging through the bloodstream. But we'll never know for sure".

Quotes:

Dr. Tony Hill: A cartoon? That's an odd choice.
DC Paula McIntyre: What's odd about it? If you show violence on TV it promotes violence.
Dr. Tony Hill: Oh yeah? What shows did Jack the Ripper watch?

Regarding the title

The title "Wire in the Blood" is a phrase from T.S. Eliot's poem "Burnt Norton", which is the first of his "Four Quartets": "The trilling wire in the blood/Sings below inveterate scars/Appeasing long forgotten wars." The poem is at least in part about the relationship between the longing for spiritual peace and "the release from action and suffering"; it touches on these ideas as part of a Christian and also a Buddhist world view. I haven't read the books that the series is based on, so I cannot say how the author originally put the title in context (if at all.)

The phrases that follow "wire in the blood" in the poem are significant to the title's meaning for this show, I think, with the invocation of scarring, forgetting and violence.