Edge of Darkness
Updated: 12/11/2025, 3:42:23 PM Wikipedia source
Edge of Darkness is a British television drama serial produced by BBC Television in association with Lionheart Television International and originally broadcast in six 50 to 55-minute episodes in late 1985. A mixture of crime drama and political thriller, it revolves around the efforts of widowed policeman Ronald Craven (played by Bob Peck) to unravel the truth behind the murder of his daughter, Emma (played by Joanne Whalley). Craven's investigations soon lead him into a murky world of government and corporate cover-ups and nuclear espionage, pitting him against dark forces that threaten the future of life on Earth. Writer Troy Kennedy Martin was greatly influenced by the political climate of the time, dominated by the Thatcher government, and the aura of secrecy surrounding the nuclear industry – and by the implications of the Gaia hypothesis of environmentalist James Lovelock; these combined to him writing a thriller that mingled real world concerns with mythic and mystical elements. Kennedy Martin's original ending was more fantastic than that eventually used in the finished serial: he had proposed that Craven would turn into a tree but this was vetoed by members of the cast and crew. First broadcast on BBC2, Edge of Darkness was met with such widespread critical acclaim that within days it had earned a repeat on BBC1. Winner of several prestigious awards, it remains highly regarded, often cited as one of the best and most influential pieces of British television drama. The series' director, Martin Campbell, filmed a remake, released in January 2010, starring Mel Gibson and set in the United States.
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| Preceded byThe Jewel in the Crown | British Academy Television AwardsBest Drama Series or Serial 1986 | Succeeded byThe Life and Loves of a She-Devil |
References
- IMDbhttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090424/
- Broadcasting Press Guild Awards 1986
- Bob Peck at IMDbhttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm0669629/
- Joanne Whalley at IMDbhttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000695/
- Pixley, Get It While It's Hot, p. 56.
- Joe Don Baker at IMDbhttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000833/
- Joe Don Baker, Actor Who Found Fame With ‘Walking Tall,’ Dies at 89https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/15/movies/joe-don-baker-dead.html?smid=url-share
- Charles Kay at IMDbhttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm0443016/
- The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/jan/14/charles-kay-obituary
- Ian McNeice at IMDbhttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm0573862/
- Troy Kennedy Martin at IMDbhttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm0448392/
- The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/culture/2009/sep/16/troy-kennedy-martin-obituary
- Martin Campbell at IMDbhttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm0132709/
- Michael Wearing at IMDbhttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm0915725/
- Walt Patterson on Energyhttp://www.waltpatterson.org/moreaboutwaltpatterson.pdf
- Pixley, Get It While It's Hot, p. 55.
- Vanezis, Magnox: The Secrets of Edge of Darkness.
- Northmoorhttp://fabulousbakers.tripod.com/edge/interview01.html
- Michael Kamen at IMDbhttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004383/
- Amazonhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B000002LN9
- Kennedy Martin, Introduction.
- Pixley, Get It While It's Hot, p. 52.
- Pixley, Get It While It's Hot, p. 53.
- Cooke, British Television Drama: A History, p. 64
- Lavender, Edge of Darkness (Troy Kennedy Martin), p. 104.
- Lavender, Edge of Darkness (Troy Kennedy Martin), p. 112.
- Pixley, Get It While It's Hot, p. 54.
- Pixley, Get It While It's Hot, p. 54 - 55.
- Lavender, Edge of Darkness (Troy Kennedy Martin), p. 113.
- Pixley, Into The Shadows, p. 50.
- Inglis, Citizenship and the Media, p. 55.
- Pixley, Into The Shadows, passim
- Liverpool Daily Post Wednesday 30 October 1985
- Bob Peck interviewed on Breakfast Time
- Pixley, Into The Shadows, p. 51.
- Cooke, British Television Drama: A History, p. 158.
- The Times
- Did You See..?
- The Sunday Times
- The Sunday Times
- The Sunday Times
- Pixley, Into The Shadows, p. 52.
- Kibble-White, Let's All Hide in the Linen Cupboard.
- Lavender, Edge of Darkness (Troy Kennedy Martin), p. 107.
- Lavender, Edge of Darkness (Troy Kennedy Martin), p. 103 - 104.
- Lavender, Edge of Darkness (Troy Kennedy Martin), p. 103.
- Cooke, British Television Drama: A History, p. 148.
- Cubitt, Edge of Darkness: eco-terrorism and the public sphere, p. 79.
- Pixley, Into The Shadows, p. 53.
- Hartley, Tele-ology, p. 202-203
- British Film Institutehttps://web.archive.org/web/20051130005501/http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/tv/100/list/list.php
- British Film Institutehttps://web.archive.org/web/20070926225931/http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/tv/100/list/prog.php?id=15
- BBC Newshttps://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3184529.stm
- BBC Newshttps://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3919275.stm
- The Stagehttps://web.archive.org/web/20070529162022/http://www.thestage.co.uk/tvtoday/2007/03/the_50_greatest_tv_dramas.php
- Channel 4http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/G/greatest/tv_characters/results.html
- BAFTAhttp://www.bafta.org/awards-database.html?year=1985&category=Television&award=false
- Pixley, Into the Shadows, p. 53.
- Edge of Darkness (DVD), BBC Worldwide, 2003.
- Edge of Darknesshttps://archive.org/details/edgeofdarkness00mart