Cracker

Cracker

Published: Wednesday, 23 May 2007, 2:31PM

First broadcast: 1993
Creator: Jimmy McGovern
Starring: Robbie Coltrane, Geraldine Somerville, Barbara Flynn
Episodes: 26

Watch the first series of Cracker online

The background: One of ITV’s biggest hits, the McGovern creation revolves around Dr Edward Fitzgerald (Robbie Coltrane), aka Fitz, a criminal psychologist who assists the Manchester Police Force to profile and catch killers.

Coltrane's Bafta-winning portrayal of the grumpy, womanising chain-smoker was aided by a sterling supporting cast. Cracker has won three Baftas for best drama and best drama performance (twice). 

The low-down: In the first series, Fitz's interaction with DCI Bilborough (Christopher Eccleston), DS Beck (Lorcan Cranitch) and DS Penhaligon (Geraldine Somerville) produced fascinating viewing.

The continuous clash between the psychological reasoning of Fitz, backed by Penhaligon, and the old-style aggressive policing of Beck and Bilborough provided the cornerstone for McGovern's juicy scripts.

With Fitz and Penhaligon's relationship moving from business to pleasure and back again, Fitz's wife Judith (Barbara Flynn) comes under intense strain.

After the three stories of season one, Robert Carlyle stepped in to play the most notorious villain of the show's run during the story To Be A Somebody.

Carlyle's award-winning performance as Albie, a victim of the Hillsborough disaster who turns psychotic, took the show to a new level thanks in part to the shock ending.

It provided the chance for DCI Wise (Ricky Tomlinson) to join the team. Beck's guilt over Bilborough's fate and the subsequent abuse of Penhaligon created more intense drama that spilled over into the third series.

In the third series Fitz takes some teaching work at the University, where he receives love letters from Janice, a depressed lab technician, who begins murdering male students she has lured to her room.

Hong Kong is the setting for the explosive fourth series, a two-hour Cracker special, which finds Fitz investigating the colony’s first serial murders.

Coltrane resurrected the role ten years later in another one-off special called Nine Eleven where Fitz returns to Manchester from Australia to help solve a random killing.

Memorable quotes: Fitz  – "I drink too much, I smoke too much, I gamble too much. I am too much."

Fitz: "Nobody ever loses their memory. It just gets locked away like the mad woman in the attic. Occasionally you hear her scream, but you don't dare unlock the door and look in.”

Albie: "You're looking at me and you're looking at the future. See, this country is gonna blow. And people like me are gonna light the fuse. The despised, the betrayed. We're gonna light the fuse and this country is gonna blow. This country is gonna blow.”

Memorable moment: In the episode Brotherly Love, Fitz finds Beck holed up in a pub. His colleague, who has been in a mental hospital, confesses to Fitz that he raped Penhaligon. He pressures Fitz into agreeing that their meeting is a "doctor and patient" one. It means Fitz cannot tell anyone. He is torn over what to do next.”

Coltrane on Fitz: On being asked how long it took to get back into character after ten years Coltrane replied “It took ten seconds. I wish I was as smart as he is but I’m roughly the same size.”

Trivia: Top criminal psychologist Dr Ian Stephen acted as an advisor to the makers of Cracker. He has been involved in the long-running search for the notorious serial killer Bible John.

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      "I specifially remember the episode where Robert Carlyle was playing the Liverpool football fan who was trying to get back at the police officers for the Hillsborough disaster. I remember watching it as a little kid and that sold me on thinking “Yeah, I’d like to be an actor”. That was probably the best piece of drama I’ve ever seen on British telly”

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