By Jeff Swindoll Jan 29, 2010, 12:51 GMT
Mel Gibson is about to star in a remake of this acclaimed British miniseries, so it’s not surprising that the set is re-released to coincide with its big screen incarnation.
It was a dark and stormy night when Yorkshire police officer Ronald Craven (Bob Peck) was escorting his daughter Emma (Joanne Whaley) home so that they could have dinner. The two are making their way under a raincoat through the downpour. In their front yard, a stranger in rain slicker shouts “Craven,” Emma goes towards the man, but the stranger reveals a shotgun and unloads both barrels into the helpless woman.
She dies at the scene as fellow officers try and comfort the numb Craven. He insists on staying at home even though they haven’t caught the assassin. Craven wanders around the empty home, carrying a loaded shotgun if the killer returns, and eventually ends up in Emma’s room. He starts to go through his dead daughter’s things. What he finds shocks him – a gun and a Geiger counter.
He begins to uncover that Emma was with an environmental organization called GAIA. His grief is channeled into the hunt for his daughter’s killer. He goes to London to get more information about he group she belonged to and their involvement with protesting the Northmoor Nuclear facility. In his quest he’ll encounter CIA operative Darius Jedburgh (Joe Don Baker), conspiracies, the ghost of his dead child, and perhaps even the end of the world.
Martin Campbell, who directed this 1985 miniseries, is set to bring the same story to the big screen with Mel Gibson in the role of the grief-stricken father. It might be a hard slog since the late Bob Peck excelled in the role. He was given ample support from Joe Don Baker and a cast of familiar English faces.
The miniseries did benefit from a soundtrack by Eric Clapton and Michael Kamen (highlighted as an isolated track on this release). Where the show might seem dated is the nuclear threat. Maybe it’s just me but we don’t see the anti-nuke contingent that highlighted the 80s. We just don’t seem to fear the “China Syndrome” anymore.
I suppose it’s still out there, but it’s not getting the press that it did in the 80s. Some things do change, but others remain the same as the other aspect that might be more familiar to modern audiences are the environmental aspects of the storyline. Gaia, again maybe a term more familiar in the time period, is the Greek goddess responsible for Earth and the term was extensive used by climate scientist James Lovelock.
Writer Troy Kennedy Martin takes all of these elements and fashions them into an espionage thriller and certainly that mystery is still one that can catch hold. The series length might be somewhat of a detriment, but I can’t imagine what will be condensed to fit it all into a two hour film. The miniseries would go on to be fondly remembered and win many Brit awards.
Edge of Darkness is presented in fullscreen. Both discs feature an isolated score. Special features on disc one include the 8 minute “Did You See…?” television review of the show, a 6 minute “Breakfast Time” interview with Peck, the 6 minute “Broadcasting Press Guild Awards” from 1986, and 7 minutes of the “BAFTA Awards.” Disc two has a 2 minute “alternate closing,” the 34 minute “Magnox – Secrets of the Edge of Darkness” a 2003 making of, and a photo gallery.
We may not fear nuclear power plants today, but the environmental scaremongering is still in the nightly news. Some of the ideas might show their time period influence, but all can agree that Bob Peck and the cast are in top form.
Visit the DVD database for more information.
Your Talkback on this Story