Shadow Line, The (BBC-2 2011, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christopher Eccleston)

The dark heart of Hugo Blick (he also wrote Sensitive Skin and Marion and Geoff) takes us into film noir territory with The Shadow Line. An all star cast including Christopher Eccleston, the fab Sir Antony Sher and Stephen Rea star in the story which is essentially a conspiracy thriller centered around the death of a gangland boss called Wratten.

Key events include a cop with a bullet in his brain, whose amnesia leaves him doubtful of his own moral compass; a drug-lord driven by a profound personal tragedy, risking it all on one last deal; and a brilliantly lethal puppet-master who gradually emerges from the shadows to bring the story to its shocking climax.

The drama explores the morality of these characters as they negotiate the repercussions of Wratten’s death and attempt to navigate the fine line between right and wrong. It’s superb stuff, Blick elevates himself into the pantheon of all time great TV writers with The Shadow Line. It’s like a great big epic tale by an Alan Bleasdale or Dennis Potter.

Eccleston and Sharp had previously played a couple in Russell T. Davies The Second Coming

production details
UK / BBC-2 – Company Pictures – Baby Cow – CinemaNX / 7×60 minute episodes / Broadcast from Thursday 5 May 2011 – Thursday 16 June 2011 @ 9.00pm

Writer, producer and director: Hugo Blick / Co-Producer: Johann Knobel / Executive Producers: George Faber, Charlie Pattinson, Henry Normal, Lindsay Hughes, Marc Samuelson, Steve Christian, Polly Hill

cast
CHIWETEL EJIOFOR as Jonah Gabriel
CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON as Joseph Bede
ANTONY SHER as Peter Glickman
STEPHEN REA as Peter Glickman
RAFE SPALL as Jay Wratten
KIERSTON WAREING as Lia Honey
LESLEY SHARP as Julie Bede
SEAN GILDER as Robert Beatty
FREDDIE FOX as Rattalack
MALCOLM STORRY as Maurice Crace
RICHARD LINTERN as Chief Superintendent Patterson
DAVID SCHOFIELD as Sergeant Foley

THE EPISODES
EPISODE 1
EPISODE 2
EPISODE 3
EPISODE 4