I came down with a bit of a sickness recently. It doesnt' happen to me often, in fact, its been several years since the last time I was sick. Anyway, during my convalescence, I took the opportunity to revisist a show I hadn't seen in a long time: Edge of Darkness.
For those of you not in the know, Edge of Darkness is a 1985 British mini-series written by Troy Kennedy Martin and directed by Martin Cambpell. It tells the story of Ronald "Ronnie" Craven, a policeman whose daughter Emma is gunned down right in front of him. As Craven tries to find out the truth about Emma's death, he soon finds himself caught up in a murky conspiracy, that stretches to the highest levels of the British government. A conspiracy which has something to do with the nuclear storage facility in Northmoor. A facility that a group of activists, among them Craven's daughter, broke into.
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I won't go into further details regarding the plot, since doing so would risk giving away too much and Edge of Darkness is one of those shows that a first-time viewer is better knowing as little about as possible. Suffice to say that the writing for this show is truly excellent; the British have always had a knack for these type of intelligent conspiracy thrillers and Edge of Darkness may well be the gold standard of the genre. Its plot grows steadily more complex and involving as it progresses and the characterization is top-notch, with even the minor characters coming of as memorable and believable and being well-portrayed by their actors. Mention in particular must go to the Bob Peck, who gives a touching and very intense portrayal of Ronald Craven and Joe Don Baker, who absolutely steals the show as Darius Jedburgh; the shady, but immensely likable CIA agent, who becomes Craven's closest ally during the course of the series.
One particular interesting part of Edge of Darkness is the ambiguously supernatural aspect that permeates the plot. Emma Craven, though she dies in the first episode remains as a ghostly presence and the show leaves it open as to whether she's a real ghost or merely a hallucination of her father's. In the end, The viewer is left to decide for themselves which interpretation is the correct one.
Since it first aired, Edge of Darkness has been highly regarded and its easy to see why. Its a true masterpiece, one that deserves to stand among the very best works that the medium has to offer.
