Customer Reviews

Wire in the Blood - Complete First Season

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Based on the novels by Val McDermid, Wire in the Blood is a gritty, rivetting, suspenseful psychological crime drama; it is also, without a doubt, one of the best series of that genre around. Robson Green (Touching Evil, Reckless, Me & Mrs. Jones, The Student Prince, The Gambling Man, Grafters, Soldier Soldier) stars as Dr. Tony Hill, a clinical psychologist who moonlights as a criminal profiler for the police. Tony is brilliant in his ability to gain insights into the criminal mind, but his brilliance comes at a cost, compensated as it is by an equal degree of social ineptitude. Like an absent-minded professor, Tony has a mind so focused that he easily becomes oblivious to his surroundings and to those around him. It doesn't help matters that he talks to himself or that he finds it helpful to physically act out various aspects of the crime in question--things that are best NOT done in a public place! Though the storylines are very serious--even chilling--the very nature of Tony's character provides the occasional welcome moment of lightness and humour. Those familiar with Robson Green will know that this is the type of character at which he excels--characters which are, at the very least, just a little bit odd.

Tony's connection with the police is via Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan (Hermione Norris--Cold Feet's Karen Marsden), a shrewd, hard-working cop, who is well aware of Tony's brilliant mind and of his value to the police. There exists almost from the start--and always beneath the surface--a mutual attraction between Tony and Carol, and it is here that Tony most poignantly feels his lack of social skills.

There are, at the time of writing, two sets on dvd (with set three due for release in February 2006). Set one contains three episodes (each presented as two back-to-back 50 minute episodes); set two contains four 100-minute episodes. DVD extras on set one are limited to brief text-based bios, but set two consists of interesting and informative interviews with Robson Green, Hermion Norris, author Val McDermid, and the production team.

Though this is a series, each episode is movie length, and I would challenge anyone to find a Hollywood crime drama as good as any one of the episodes in this outstanding series. If you enjoy top quality, impeccably-acted, gritty, dark, intelligent psychological crime drama which draws the viewer right in--shows like BBC's Waking the Dead, for example--you will definitely enjoy this series, and I recommend both sets without hesitation. I enjoyed the series so much that I bought McDermid's latest Tony Hill novel, The Torment of Others (2004), which I also thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend. Personally, I can't wait for the release of set three, and I hope Koch Vision continues to release future sets as they become available!

Very highly recommended!

Shown on BBC America a few months ago, this is a series worth owning. Based on Val McDermid's book series, the shows are a trimmed down version of some of the stories. I recomend the books and the television series as they both hold their own.

The Wire in the Blood television series is dark, creepy, gritty, and compelling. These are psychological dramas that don't sugar-coat the crimes, the people, or the situations. They're not for everyone, but the majority of mystery/crime drama fans will find them more than satisfying. The characters are well written and acted without being standard or cliche and the stories, while dark, are a compelling look into the psychology of criminal profiling and anaylysis.

Good characters, strong writing and high production standards is what really sells this series.

I am a person who reads copiously and I am invariably disappointed with the TV adaptations to my fave books - but not this time.
Robson Green is brilliant as Dr.Tony Hill. The stories are portrayed as grittily as they are on paper.
The same suspense, excitement and horror is there. Some of Val Macdermids Tony Hill series have been scaled down for television, but the ensuing TV versions make for exciting viewing. Realistic without being depressing, Violent without becoming nauseous, I would reccommend the Wire in the Blood series to any crime drama buff. Those of you who loved Prime Suspect will not be disappointed with this.

I found this series especially delightful because Robson Green's character lives within the confines of his own mind. Though he shows remarkable insight into the actions of the violent and deranged, he also displays that phenomenal lack of social consciousness that is particular to geniuses and artists (as in "Yes, I just invented nuclear fission, but no, I didn't know I was supposed to wear socks and shoes to this award ceremony."). This makes for some truly unusual and amusing situations, that help bring levity to the gruesome crimes he investigates. If you like Touching Evil or Monk, this series may be for you.

Robson Green's "Wire in the Blood," a British television detective series, is actually made by Green's own production company - he's a big television star in the United Kingdom -- for Independent Television (ITV). The series is based upon the work of prize-winning British author Val McDermid, set in her fictional Midlands city of Bradfield, which she undoubtedly based upon the Midlands city of Manchester, where she worked as a journalist for 16 years, and still resides. Furthermore, it's filmed in Manchester, in the English Midlands, which we don't see much of here (Green's a native of Newcastle, not all that far away.) It's a crime drama/police procedural, focusing largely on the capture of serial killers (a theme some of us may find overused), and it is gritty, sometimes gory. And many Americans, me among them, must wish it had subtitles: between the local accent, and the softness with which the characters speak, it's very difficult to make out what's going on.

The series is nicely filmed, on location, and uses enough extras to make that location believable as a bustling city. It boasts a good cast. Robson Green, to be sure, stars as Dr. Tony Hill, psychologist-academic-profiler, giving a substantial performance as an intense, intelligent, troubled, fallible, and flexible man. He is ably supported by Hermione Norris as Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan; Emma Hardy as DC Paula McIntyre, and Mark Letheren as DS Kevin Geoffries.

However, "Wire" now advertises itself as "based upon the characters created by" McDermid, a relatively new author, who hasn't written nearly enough to keep a series going. Most episodes of the series are written by others. If you've never read her work, McDermid is a daring writer, who frequently breaks new ground; her best work is troubling, intensely gory and violent. She is considered one of he leading lights of the British mystery school known as tartan noir: more bloody and violent than usual, lightened, occasionally, thank goodness by that bloody-minded Scots humor. Written, self-evidently, by a Scot, which Mc Dermid is.

Episode 1 of the first series, "I Hear the Mermaids Singing," is based upon the McDermid book of the same name,The Mermaids Singing (Dr. Tony Hill and Carol Jordan Mysteries); an extremely bloody one, about a sadistic serial killer operating in the city's gay community. It's been cleaned up considerably for TV. Episode 2, "Shadows Rising," is, in fact, based upon McDermid's The Wire in the Blood (Dr. Tony Hill and Carol Jordan Mysteries). It too, is an extremely gory book, about attractive young girls disappearing all over the country, later to be found murdered. And it, too, has been cleaned up considerably for TV. The third episode presented, "Justice Painted Blind," which is not based upon a McDermid work, is not only not up to McDermid's standard, it just doesn't deal with her usual material. Instead, it chooses to concern itself with the doings of someone seriously dissatisfied with the country's justice system.

"Wire in the Blood" is a quote from a poem by T.S. Eliot; its meaning isn't entirely clear, even to McDermid, but we might as well call it an irresistible urge to kill. Unfortunately, what with one thing and another, many Americans will have frustrating difficulties trying to follow this material. Therefore, I can't recommend it to anyone not, at least, familiar with McDermid's work.

THE BBC IS BRILLIANT.HAVING PRODUCED SOME OF TV'S BEST AND BY FAR INTELLIGENT THRILLERS & MYSTERIES NOW BRING US "WIRE IN THE BLOOD" . INTRIGUEING PLOTS ,INTRICATE ,INDEPTH CHARACTORS SOO WELL WRITTEN AND DIRECTED THAT HOLLYWOOD SHOULD TAKE A GOOD LOOK,AS THEY CAN'T COME CLOSE ,NO MATTER HOW MUCH $ THEY SPEND.ROBSON GREEN STARRING AS DR. HILL ,A CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST AIDING THE BRADFORD POLICE'S DCI JORDAN{HERMIONE NORRIS} IN TRACKING DOWN SERIAL KILLERS WORK SPELINDLY TOGETHER.PAST IT'S THIRD SEASON & INTO A SPINOFF "TOUCHING EVIL"THERE IS NOT ONE BAD EPISODE.CSI IS GOOD YET THIS IS FAR THE SUPERIOR.

I wrote an earlier review...

This is still a series worth buying. I did notice on Series 1, the dvd is in full-screen while it was aired in wide-screen on BBC America. Most people would never notice this, but composition is off in some scenes and lighting is blown-out in other ones.
It's a small and subtle change to certain portions of the episodes.

Still worth buying.

I must admit that I only watched about 45 minutes of the first episode, but that was because the torture scenes were WAY too graphic- hence the low review. I love BBC crime dramas and am not squeamish at all (loved "300", "Prime Suspect and "Cracker" for example) but some of these scenes were so over the top that I was unable to enjoy the movie; it made me sick to my stomach. I realize that the episode was about a serial killer, but I have watched many other movies with similar themes that did not cross the line like this one. I do wish I had sampled one of the other episodes to see if it was a little more watchable. I did like both the leads.

This show is one of the best shows I have ever seen. I am NOT a fan of American crime shows like CSI or whatever thousand others because they are surface. Wire in the Blood's charachters are more real, gritty, and human. The show is dark and artfully done, and I think it probes real minds more than any US show. Tony Hill is an amazing charachter and Robson G. is a brilliant actor. Tony is a socially inept clinical psychologist with a talent for catching serial killers. The show is not cheesy though. Tony has to walk a thin line between madness and sanity to catch his killer. The overall tone also has you sort of on edge, as to whether, Tony himself would ever cross over from helper to killer. The actress whom plays Carol Jordan also is a good, real, and gritty persona of a woman trying to keep her name and respect in the male dominated law enforcement enviornment. Of course, we all love the chemistry and subtle flirtations between Tony and Carol, and we see them deveolp a very loving and respect based bond. This show is daring, shocking, gruesome, brilliant, interesting, and fantastic.

The books by Val McDermid are excellent - gripping and tense. The TV series, while based on the books, changes the storylines around quite a bit, especially Shadows Rising (episode 2) which was based on the original book Wire in the Blood that gave the series its title. The book is far too complex to convert well to even the small screen in a reasonable time. The adaptation is excellent, and very well suited to the two hour format.

In many ways it's the best of both worlds - both the books and the show are excellent, and sufficiently different that they are enjoyable quite independent from each other. If you buy this and enjoy it, make sure you get the books too - you won't be disappointed.