Edge of Darkness is a British television drama serial, produced by BBC Television in association with Lionheart Television International and originally broadcast in six fifty-five minute episodes in late 1985. A mixture of crime drama and political thriller, it revolves around the efforts of policeman Ronald Craven (played by Bob Peck) to unravel the truth behind the brutal killing 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 – particularly the Thatcher administration, perceived by many on the left as reactionary, and the aura of secrecy surrounding the nuclear industry – and by the implications of the Gaia hypothesis of environmentalist James Lovelock, crafting 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, proposing that Craven would turn into a tree but this was vetoed by other 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 to this day, often cited as one of the best and most influential pieces of British television drama ever made. The series' director, Martin Campbell is filming a remake for release in 2010, starring Mel Gibson.
Plot
One: "Compassionate Leave"
On a rainy night, Yorkshire police officer Ronald Craven (Bob Peck) and his daughter Emma (Joanne Whalley), a scientist and environmental activist, are confronted by man with a shotgun just outside of Craven's home. The gunman fatally shoots Emma with both barrels, and then escapes. Craven's colleagues believe that "Ronnie" was the target - the killer one of Craven's past prisoners seeking revenge - Emma just getting in the way. Going through Emma's belongings, Craven discovers a geiger counter and a gun - the gun clearly registering on the geiger counter, and also a lock of hair clipped by the pathologist. He also finds a radiation badge marked "IIF" - International Irradiated Fuels, LTD., a British company chartered to store radioactive waste at a low level radioactive waste facility known as "Northmoor". Emma's body and her possessions are also radioactive. Craven has almost immediately begun experiencing visions of his daughter. It is not clear if she is a ghost or a product of his imagination. Convincing his boss that the killer will end up heading for London, Craven heads for the city. There, he is contacted by Pendleton (Charles Kay), a polished official “attached to the Prime Minister's office,” who informs him that Emma was known to the government as a terrorist and that it may have been she, not Craven, who was the gunman's target. Pendelton later receives a visit from CIA agent Darius Jedburgh (Joe Don Baker), an associate who is also aware of Emma's activities.
Two: "Into the Shadows"
Following the investigation in London, Craven has more intense visions of Emma to which he voices his frustration. The fingerprints on the getaway car used by Emma's killer match that of Lowe, a man Craven arrested ten years earlier. Meanwhile, Pendleton introduces Craven to his colleague, Harcourt (Ian McNeice), who informs him that Emma was a member of a subversive anti-nuclear group called GAIA. A team of six GAIA members, led by Emma, had broken into Northmoor on May 8, 1985; all are now either dead or missing. Seeing Craven make a televised appeal for information about Emma's killer, Jedburgh contacts him, and shows Craven the CIA's file on Emma's activities. The file describes how GAIA and the CIA became suspicious of Northmoor when a nearby reservoir had become contaminated with radioactive material, leading them to believe Northmoor was illegally storing plutonium. Jedburgh is played as a hard-bitten professional with a wry sense of humour and a passion for golf. Along with Harcourt and Pendleton, he is keen to find the source and purpose of the plutonium, but there are signs that he has his own plans for Northmoor.
Three: "Burden of Proof"
The police close in on their suspect, Lowe (Roy Heather). Although successfully apprehended, Lowe manages to break free, jumping from the window of his building. Dying of his injuries, Lowe tells Craven he was working with McCroon, a terrorist Craven had convicted in Northern Ireland - strengthening the official theory that Ronnie had been the target. Craven meets Emma's boyfriend, Terry "Tell" Shields (Tim McInnerny), a political agitator who is clearly under surveillance. Shields - more a socialist than environmentalist - tells Craven that Emma was investigating a hot cell in Northmoor; Shields is later killed - as is the occupant of a van that had been surveilling his home. Craven meets Harcourt and Pendleton at the House of Commons where an inquiry is taking place into the sale of IIF to "The Fusion Corporation of Kansas", owned by Jerry Grogan (Kenneth Nelson). Pendleton tells Craven that he believes Grogan was behind Emma's death. Craven refuses to testify in the IIF inquiry, but his presence there clearly unsettles Robert Bennet, IIF's managing director. Outside of the hearings, Craven is introduced to Clementine (Zoe Wanamaker), a friend of Jedburgh's. It is "Clemmy" who informs an incredulous Craven that Jedburgh created GAIA. Jedburgh confronts Grogan, warning him to stay out of Northmoor. It is clear both men know each other on hostile terms. Returning to Yorkshire for Emma's funeral, Craven is refused permission to seek a warrant to enter Northmoor - his superiors stubbornly adhere to the theory that Emma was killed by Lowe and McCroon, and suspect Craven of cracking. Returning home, Craven is observed by McCroon (Sean Caffrey).
Four: "Breakthrough"
McCroon, as Craven had expected, breaks into Craven's house intent on killing him. McCroon, with a shotgun to Craven's head, admits killing Emma while trying to kill Craven. Much like Craven's superiors, McCroon insists the guilt is his own - revenge for Craven's work with informers in Northern Ireland. Craven appears unafraid, certain he can get McCroon to tell him who he is working for but McCroon is shot by a police marksman before he can say anything. Craven is briefly hospitalized when he suffers a breakdown, but he is soon released. Returning home, he finds a list of train stations written by Emma - possibly directions for breaking into Northmoor. Meanwhile, Harcourt and Pendelton investigate the recovery of a woman's body from a resevoir near Northmoor. Though the cause of death was drowning, the body is irradiated. A pathologist will later testify that the body shows signs of having been in proximity to concentrated fissile material, of the kind found in a reprocessing plant, and that this coincided with an exposure to a "criticallity accident". With the help of a colleague, Craven gains access to a terminal connected to the MI5 computer. He checks the MI5 records for GAIA, Northmoor and Emma and learns that McCroon was acting on the orders of Northmoor Security. He also obtains a three-dimensional map of Northmoor from the computer, and narrowly avoids arrest with Clemmy's help when Police investigate the security breach. Craven also confronts Godbolt, a mining union functionary who wilts when Craven tells him of his investigations. Godbolt, knowing that disclosure of Northmoor will ruin him, confesses his role in IIF and Emma's death, and the origins of Northmoor. Craven reunites with Jedburgh - who is just returning from a mission in El Salvador - and the two talk about Jedburgh's role in creating GAIA, and Craven's plans to break into Northmoor.
Five: "Northmoor"
Over breakfast, Grogan informs Bennet of Jedburgh's planned break in to Northmoor. With the help of Godbolt, Craven and Jedburgh penetrate Northmoor through the old mines. Tipped off, IIF security try to flood the tunnels - but this requires gallons of water needed to keep their stocks of plutonium safe. Surviving the floods, Jedburgh and Craven proceed to Northmoor - on the way, they stumble on the horribly irradiated bodies of the GAIA team. Reaching the "hot cell", which sends Craven's geiger counter into a frenzy, the two find the signs of an horrific radiation accident - with the bodies of fatally irradiated personnel still lying where they died. Jedburgh, under orders from the CIA, enters the hot cell and steals the plutonium. As the two escape the hot cell and flee from IIF security forces, Jedburgh gives Ronnie some of the plutonium as evidence, then orders Craven to split from him. Craven - having been warned by Godbolt to stay on his guard about Jedburgh - wants to know what the CIA man intends to do with the rest of the plutonium. Jedburgh reiterates his orders at gun point, and the two split off. Craven flees for a bunker - a disused nuclear weapons fire control site. Feeling the effects of the radiation, and with the IIF forces flooding the bunker with gas, Craven desperately seeks out a working phone - the only one he can find dials directly to 10 Downing Street. A bemused security guard at answers the call as Craven screams "Get me Pendelton!" At the House of Commons inquiry, IIF chief executive Robert Bennett (Hugh Fraser) is forced to admit the presence of plutonium at Northmoor and the deaths of the GAIA team. He informed neither the police nor the civilian nuclear regulatory authorities of this - in violation of regulations and IIF's charter - because the plutonium belonged to the Ministry of Defense.
Six: "Fusion"
Craven wakes up in a hospital on an American Air Force base - showing signs of massive radiation poisoning. Jedburgh hasn't been found, and Craven can't tell them where to look. The Americans are searching for Jedburgh as well - but he kills at least 4 agents sent to get him. In Scotland, Jedburgh is also suffering from radiation poisoning, and may be becoming delusional. Rather than golf, Jedburgh's plans in Scotland involve an appearance at a NATO conference on directed energy weapons held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland. Also present at the conference is Grogan who arrives with the news that the British government has approved the purchase of IIF. Before a roused audience, Grogan delivers a coldly passionate address on the power of fusion, invoking the spirit of historic explorers and boldly proclaiming man's destiny to become a "celestial warrior" and establish a "solar empire". The audience of military and civilian officials applauds but Jedburgh, in U.S. Army uniform, takes the podium to denounce Grogan's vision for a nuclear state. Finishing his speech, he gleefully reveals two bars of the plutonium stolen from Northmoor, yelling "Get it while it's hot". The audience, bemused at first, breaks into a panic and flees the room. With only Grogan left, Jedburgh brings together the two bars, causing a criticality accident and irradiating Grogan.
With Clemmy's car, Craven drives to Scotland. His sickness worsening, Craven stops near a stream, where Emma appears. She tells Craven of a time in Earth's distant and frigid past when black flowers grew, warming the Earth and preventing life from becoming extinct. These same black flowers have returned, she says, to save Earth from its latest enemy - mankind. Once the flowers have spread, the absorbed heat will melt the polar icecaps, washing mankind away. Tracking Jedburgh down to a remote country house, Craven learns that the American has weaponized the remaining plutonium. Unbeknownst to both men, a hit squad is nearing the house. Among other things, they carry a coffin shaped box carrying radiation warning labels. Inside the house, the pair have a final rambling conversation - touching the appearance of the black flower, the song "Time of the Preacher" and the likely victor in the battles of good and evil, and between Earth and mankind; Jedburgh is convinced that mankind will find a way to survive, but Craven doubts this, and declares that if it comes to war between mankind and the planet he's on the side of the planet. Jedburgh, expecting the assassins, leaves Craven when they break into the house, determined to get as many as he can, ultimately falling to their bullets; Craven clearly expects them to kill him too, but they spare him, the squad leader pointing out that he's "on our side". Outraged, Craven bellows "I am not on your side!" as they leave.[1]
In the final scene, Pendleton and Harcourt observe IIF's retrieval of the plutonium from a nearby loch, where Jedburgh had hidden it. A voiceover by Harcourt, in the form of a letter to Clemmy concerning the events, reveals that Grogan is also dying from the radiation exposure he received at the hotel. Pendleton and Harcourt spot Craven watching the retrieval operation from a nearby hill. Harcourt laments his inability to comfort Craven, reassure him that Gaia will be safe and that good will triumph over evil - knowing that Craven simply wouldn't believe it. As he watches the recovery team leave the area, and knowing his life is at an end, Craven wails Emma's name one last time.
Time passes. The waves lap against a nameless shore over nights and days. The camera pans against the side of snow covered hill where black flowers bloom, harbingers of Gaia's coming war against mankind.
Cast
Ronald Craven was played by Bob Peck, an actor who was well known in theatre but, at the time he was cast as Craven, had appeared in only minor roles on television. In creating the role of Craven, Peck drew upon his experience gained from the two years he played the title role in Macbeth for the Royal Shakespeare Company.[2] Notable roles after Edge of Darkness included On the Black Hill (1987), Slipstream (1989), Natural Lies (1992) and Jurassic Park (1993). He died in 1999.[3]
Joanne Whalley, who played Emma Craven, began acting during childhood, appearing in the long-running soap opera Coronation Street (1960 - present) in 1976 at the age of 10. She had also appeared in supporting roles in several series including Juliet Bravo (1980 - 1985), Bergerac (1981 - 1991) and Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983). Following Edge of Darkness, Whalley was cast in the equally well regarded BBC television serial The Singing Detective (1986), written by Dennis Potter. Moving to Hollywood, she appeared in such films as Willow (1988), Scandal (1989) and Shattered (1991) as well as television mini-series such as Scarlett (1994) and Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (2000). During her eight year marriage to the actor Val Kilmer, between 1988 and 1996, she was often credited as Joanne Whalley-Kilmer.[4]
Cast as Darius Jedburgh was Joe Don Baker, who had been acting since the nineteen-sixties and was known for his roles in Westerns such as Gunsmoke (1955 - 1975) and as the lead in the detective series Eischied (1979 – 1980). He also starred as Sherriff Buford Pusser in the original 1972 film Walking Tall. The script of Edge of Darkness so impressed him that he agreed to take the part at lower than his usual fee.[5] He was later cast, by Edge of Darkness director Martin Campbell, as CIA agent Jack Wade in the James Bond film Goldeneye (1995), a role he reprised in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997).[6]
Charles Kay, who played Pendleton, was a well established character actor who had appeared in Fall of Eagles (1974), I, Claudius (1976) and The Devil's Crown (1978). He has since acted in many television productions such as Fortunes of War (1989), The Darling Buds of May (1991 - 1993), Jonathan Creek (1997 - 2004) and Midsomer Murders (1997 - present).[7]
Edge of Darkness was an early role for Ian McNeice, who played Harcourt. He went on to act in a wide variety of film and television parts including The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (1995), Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995) and Frank Herbert's Dune (2000) as well as regular roles in Doc Martin (2004 - present) and Rome (2005 - 2007).[8]
Several other familiar faces to British viewers appeared during the course of the episodes, including John Woodvine (as Craven's superior DCS Ross), Tim McInnerny (as Emma's boyfriend Terry Shields), Hugh Fraser (as IIF chief executive Robert Bennett), Zoë Wanamaker (as intelligence agent Clementine) and Blakes 7 cast members David Jackson (as Colonel Lawson) and Brian Croucher (as Northmoor security chief Connors). Playing themselves were television reporters Sue Cook and Kenneth Kendall, weatherman Bill Giles and Labour MP Michael Meacher.