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Cracker - 1/10/2006 4:18:01 PM   
The Todge


Posts: 588
Joined: 30/9/2005
So the new episode is screened tonight at 9pm on ITV.

Personally Im expecting good things from it, so Ill likely do a post mortem here but feel free to talk about your fave moments/episodes etc.

To Be A Somebody in my opinion is one of the finest examples of any British crime drama.  Powerful, emotional drama, uniformly brilliant performances.  And Ecclestone's death scene is still shocking.

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RE: Cracker - 1/10/2006 8:42:06 PM   
King_Wah


Posts: 2348
Joined: 1/10/2005
From: Halesowen
 You are not alone Todge. I am excited to. Especially as Jimmy McGovern is writing.

To Be A Somebody was fantastic. I watched the frst episode and phoned my mate and said remember the name Robert Carlyle, he's gonna be a star.

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RE: Cracker - 1/10/2006 8:46:10 PM   
Hobbitonlass


Posts: 11497
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Westeros
 Can't wait for this.  Done my ironing and the washing up.  Just need to make a cuppa and then I shall settle down for the viewing.  Long awaited!

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RE: Cracker - 1/10/2006 8:51:54 PM   
Godzilla


Posts: 2418
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Durham
  can't wait for this tonight, my favorite story was "Brotherly Love", a truly unforgettable ending and the final scenes with Beck are shocking. Also "To Say I Love You" from Series 1 was gripping tv. I really want the boxset now.

This site has a good episode guide

http://www.crackertv.co.uk/index.htm



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RE: Cracker - 1/10/2006 9:00:38 PM   
King_Wah


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From: Halesowen
quote:

ORIGINAL: Godzilla

 can't wait for this tonight, my favorite story was "Brotherly Love", a truly unforgettable ending and the final scenes with Beck are shocking. Also "To Say I Love You" from Series 1 was gripping tv. I really want the boxset now.



Take it you mean the scene where he talks about Bonnie and Clyde in the pub and then rips her to shreds. Fantastic.

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RE: Cracker - 1/10/2006 11:51:10 PM   
Brick_Tamland


Posts: 162
Joined: 30/9/2005
Well if thats what they come up with to mark his return after 7 years then it simply was not worth the wait.  A kernel of a decent idea smothered in political granstanding by McGovern, he gave up towards the end and decided the plot was purely incidental therefore required no attempt at logic or even credibility, as long as you ram home once again that "ooh aren't the Yanks bad people".

Pure crap

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RE: Cracker - 1/10/2006 11:58:51 PM   
beebs_


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Joined: 30/9/2005
It wasn't bad but it wasn't that great. It's probably the best thing that ITV has to offer.

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RE: Cracker - 2/10/2006 12:38:06 AM   
The Todge


Posts: 588
Joined: 30/9/2005
Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

Not really what I wanted. 

Very slow beginning.  Its almost as if McGovern wanted to make some comment on 9/11 and used the character to do it rather than use the plot to service the character.  Really lacked the strength of the early episodes.

However, it did get better as it went on.  And by the end, you could see the fire in the character's eye again.  I dunno, maybe it was intentional so we could identify with his state of mind.  He's slowly crawling back into a life he left behind, he's been existing and not living and as he gets drawn deper into it, the old passions reawaken and he becomes himself again.  And the whole episode felt like that. 

I think the place that they've left it now is good ground for some more, but it'd need to be in a fairly short space of time, so it doesnt have to go through the whole "re introduction" of the character again. 

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RE: Cracker - 2/10/2006 12:56:49 AM   
Your Funny Uncle


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From: The Deepest Depths Of Joypad.....
 Was really looking forward to this and to be honest it was quite a let down. Wasn't overly keen on the plot as a whole.

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RE: Cracker - 2/10/2006 8:10:52 AM   
jimminycrickets


Posts: 3699
Joined: 20/6/2006
What a total fucking let down. I was a massive fan of Cracker, but this seemed to discard all the things that made it such a great show and come up with pat political sentiment, shocking support characters and nonsensical plotting. Rubbish. Fitz wasn't in it nearly enough and you longed for the gallows humour of the original as well as thye return of Tomlinson and Pan Handle.

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Post #: 10
RE: Cracker - 2/10/2006 8:23:43 AM   
matty_b


Posts: 12842
Joined: 19/10/2005
From: Outpost 31 calling McMurtle.
 Compared to any other British cop/crime show it stood head and shoulders above them all - but was only a good to middling episode of Cracker. I actually thought it could have done with being longer - it was too muddled getting Fitz back into town, then setting up the murders, then having him solve the case.

Perhaps a three hour special split over three nights would have allowed it to be structured much better - because the idea of the ex-squaddie being a killer and why, was actually a very good one. Instead it relied on a whopping big coincidence for Fitz to actually catch him. And it badly missed Geraldine Sommerville and Ricky Tomlinson. Richard Coyle's DCI Walters was a poor replacement - he just didn't convince when he was shouting at people. Also, a longer running time would have helped us see more of Fitz's gift for reasoning and deduction - like the toilet scene or the scene with the cheating wife - and also a few more murders. I'm no knuckle-dragger who revels in blood but it didn't have the sense of a dangerous psychopath on the loose.

So, a strange episode to launch Cracker's comeback with. But, if the ending is meant to suggest that he is back in England for good, then hopefully he come back better and stronger. After all, it was still better than the very first episode and the previous finale in Hong Kong.

But it was clearly no To Be A Somebody - still one of the finest pieces of television to ever come from these shores.

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RE: Cracker - 2/10/2006 10:30:40 AM   
Godzilla


Posts: 2418
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Durham
 I found it dragged, the casting was the biggest problem, in the past the show was filmed with some of Britain's finest actors, now it feels just like an ITV drama. It all felt a bit preachy and safe, needs to be shocking and edgy.



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Post #: 12
RE: Cracker - 2/10/2006 4:10:24 PM   
Cruisecontroller


Posts: 4381
Joined: 28/4/2006
It was okay, watchable and still better than most mediocre dective shows on the box these days but not as good as in its classic mid nineties heyday. Big fan of Jimmy McGoven and some of his other work like The Lakes and the movie Priest.

Geraldine Summerville (I think that was her name) and Ricky Tomlinson would have helped the show to be better but I suppose Ricky Tomlinson is too old now to be a police sergent. Great idea of it being about a crinimal phycologist dealing with lots of unstable killers. Loved the one with Robert Carlyle too, plus the Religous Sect who were brainwashed to help their cult leader to kill a girl he made pregnent and the one with the rapist who attacked Geraldine Summervilles character. Thought this time it was a little bit slow. Looking forward to the last Prime Suspect. Never seen a duff one of those.

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Post #: 13
RE: Cracker - 2/10/2006 8:05:45 PM   
swampfoetus

 

Posts: 1
Joined: 30/9/2006
Tend to agree with the sentiments here, although I didnt think it was as bad as some, it did seem to as though the story itself would have stood up even if Fitz wasnt in it. It appeared to be more about the squaddie character and his actual breakdown than the role Fitz played in solving the crime. And in the end it became clear that the guy wanted to be caught anyway so all in all a bit of a letdown. And when I used the urinals today I stood at the one on the left even tho there was no-one else present....

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Post #: 14
RE: Cracker - 2/10/2006 8:31:23 PM   
KennyM


Posts: 2816
Joined: 7/4/2006
It was hardly spectacular and didnt seem as gritty as the previous ones or have as much of the black humour that was a kind of trademark for Fitz. Compared to the recent Low Winter Sun it was actually quite poor

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Post #: 15
RE: Cracker - 2/10/2006 10:04:35 PM   
Dragon Lady

 

Posts: 402
Joined: 20/7/2006
Other than Fitz and Kenny the madman it was let down by a poor cast.Why did every Tv shown have footage of Iraq war showing?
Best moment for me was when Kenny was in hotel room with mother of murdered man and he was itching to snap her neck,a tense scene,probably only one in the show.Murder of married American man in bedroom was silly,he was such an obnoxious git there was no shock value.
Best thing on ITV for some time but not vintage Cracker.

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Post #: 16
RE: Cracker - 3/10/2006 12:17:38 PM   
King_Wah


Posts: 2348
Joined: 1/10/2005
From: Halesowen
 I thought it was ok. My problems with it was it was a bit preachy and the resolution of Fitz working out who it was was a little contrived. Don't think it will be coming back for good.

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Post #: 17
RE: Cracker - 3/10/2006 1:33:31 PM   
Skiba


Posts: 4160
Joined: 24/11/2005
From: London
 Not great really it just felt rather messy and rushed to me...probably still the best thing that's been on ITV1 lately but that's harldy saying much anyway

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