Wire in the Blood

Wire in the Blood, is first of all a showcase for the excellent acting skills of the charismatic Robson Green. For a mystery/suspense,thriller this show easily surpasses virtually all shows in the genre. The shows all involve murder and this is the focus of the plots. The plots, moreover, are taut and well-written. The setting and actors are British. For non-British viewers the British actors provide something faintly exotic and alluring, which works fine to subtly draw the viewer into the action of this suspense show. It is our not insignificant loss that more shows weren't filmed

The acting overall is fine; Green's outstanding acting seemingly makes all of his fellow actors elevate their performances. The stories are quite compelling, but the real interest is in the way Green solves the murders, using his training as a psychologist who teaches at a university and in at least one episode is seen acting as a therapist. His credentials are present just to make him initially credible. He has the intelligence, training, and experience to solve complex crimes.

For a t.v. show, there an unusually high level of tension and suspense, often only seen in movies. All in all, this show rewards close viewing, while the violent/gruesome scenes are few, they are minimally sanitized, and are contextually justified. In fact the reality of violence and destructive sexuality reflect quite accurately what homicide detectives see in the real world on a regular basis. This is a show about evil--so don't expect extenuating circumstances, except for brief views in some of the shows of the past of the criminals, usually childhood, that help explain why they commit their heinous crimes.

This is a taut British crime drama very much in the "Cracker" mould. In this case, our lead character is Dr. Tony Hill. It features a crime-weary psychotherapist who is part profiler, part detective, part forensics expert. (Think "Cracker" meets "Inspector Morse" meets "CSI").There is a bookish, academic quality to Doctor Hill, without him being tweedy and standoffish (he's more human, and less lofty than Morse).

Dr. Hill is well played by actor Robson Green, who played another complex Detective in the British miniseries "Touching Evil."

In "Wire in the Blood" the stories and the crimes often unfold slowly, with just enough bits of clues and hints to make the slow development seem satisfying.

WARNING: The crime scenes can get a bit grisly, but are never gratuitous.

If you like the aforementioned "Morse" series, and enjoy the psychological gymnastics by Robbie Coltrane's "Cracker" then you will not want to miss "Wire in the Blood."

I watched all 3 in order and enjoyed this series. I am anxious to find out if there is a follow up to Painted? I have an unanswered question about the ending and it appears as though there is (or should be) a sequel to this? If you have not watched any of these, please go for it and watch them in order. The character development is quite entertaining. The chemistry between Hill and D.I. Jordan is done in a tasteful way. The creative and honest mind of the writers is put on the screen with a quality job of directing. I am a detective investigator and I am very critical with "who done it" crime solving type movies. These I would use to show my students when teaching a crime profiling class.

I first discovered "Wire in the Blood" by happy accident, I was watching Agatha Christie's Miss Marple on Amazon prime and "Wire in the Blood" popped up in my recommended list. I became hooked from the first episode "Mermaids Singing" which is done in 2 parts, with each episode my enthusiasm for the show also grew. Wire in the blood is now one of my favorite crime/Mystery/Drama shows for T.V. I'm a big fan of good,clever mystery. There are many crime/mystery books and shows out there but few are done this well with excellent character development, believable plots and story lines that are on one hand complex, terrifying, fully engrossing and on the other hand funny, thoughtful and informative. The show and books are dark and twisted. If your a fan of the genre and have not yet discovered Dr.Tony Hill I recommend that you do.

Wire in the blood was created and produced by Coastal Productions for the ITV network, it ran from 2002 to 2008 comprising of six seasons. Wire in the Blood was ITV's top rated show, was syndicated to 30 countries and won multiple awards. So when ITV did not pick up Wire in the blood for another season there was widespread disbelief and major disappointment for the millions of devoted fans.

Coastal Productions was created by Robson Green and Sandra Jobling in 1997. Their main objective was to create and produce quality shows in east Britain, creating jobs and giving voice to that area of the country. It blows every CSI, cop procedural made in the US totally out of the water. Wire in the Blood is based on the books of noted and award winning Scottish crime writer Val McDermid.

Dr.Tony Hill played by Robson Green is our main character, he is a clinical psychologist who works as a profiler for the Bradfield police; he specialises in repeat violent offenders, and has come into contact with a number of serial killers throughout his career. D.C.I. Carol Jordan played by Hermione Norris is a hard working officer and head of the Major Incident Team (MIT) of Bradfield Metropolitan Police's CID. Season 4 introduces us to a new lead character - DI Alex Fielding she is a senior detective at Bradfield CID and is a dedicated professional, always willing to put in the hours to get the case solved. Her warmth and down-to-earth style have gained her the respect of her police colleagues and Dr Tony Hill. There are many very well developed characters in this series i recommend you visit Wikipedia to get the full description of the show and it's wonderful characters http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wire_in_the_Blood

I also recommend that once you finish watching the series you read Val Mcdermid's books on Tony Hill & Carol Jordan. After the last episode of season 6 I felt left just hanging there - I wanted more more more and to know what happened next?!! As tribute to the shows success and devoted fans there is even a fan site where fans of both the TV show and books have written some pretty good Fan Fiction from chapters to full short stories. http://www.fanfiction.net/TV/Wire-in-the-Blood/

I was lucky enough to have a copy taped from BBC America (cheers, Mom!) -- if you're a Robson Green fan, it's a fantastic showcase for his acting. Not as cavalier as his "Touching Evil" series; his "Wire in the Blood" character of Tony Hill is much more reserved, quirky, and, being a criminal profiler, is more internalized with his processing of information. Even if you're not a Robson Green fan, this will surely garner him new followers. There were three full-length movies: "The Mermaid's Singing", "Shadows Rising", and "Justice Painted Blind". The first two, "Singing" and "Shadows" are adaptations of author Val McDermid's books;

"Justice" is an original script based off of McDermid's work, but closely follows her style and she was directly involved with its creation, so I think it's a respectful homage to her work as a whole, so I don't think her fans will be disappointed. All three deal with strange and grisly serial killings, the profiling of possible suspects, and the drama involved with tracking down the unique killers. Set against the backdrop of the bleak, lonely hills of the north of England, the movies are all gritty and disturbing (but not overly-so), and they really show the darker side of human nature and the lengths at which a profiler like Tony Hill is willing to venture to capture the killer. The supporting cast is brilliant; Hermione Norris as D.I. Carol Jordan is just wonderful to watch. Intelligent, sincere, and admirably professional, it's as much her story as it is Tony Hill's. The chemistry they have is marvellous to watch and not at all contrived. Personally, I think "Mermaids" was the best; it was the first, it clearly had the most detailed characterizations and plot complexity, and was definitely the most vicious -- some scenes definitely not for the faint of heart. But still compelling and highly recommended. The other two are still great, well-plotted and suspenseful, but slightly less edgy as the first. I recommend seeing the series in its proper order, to catch little references to past storylines.