Cracker (1993 - 2006)

Country of Origin: UK
Date(s) of Broadcast: 27 September 1993 - 4 November 1996
Number of Seasons: 3 plus one special
Total Number of Episodes: 22
Average Episode Running Times: 50 mins
Format: colour
Sound: Dolby

see individual episodes for credits

PLOT SUMMARY

Fitz is a chain smoking, overweight and alcoholic psychologist working freelance with the Manchester police as an offender profiler. As he struggles to hold together his crumbling family and battles his addictions to alcohol and gambling, he uses his formidable skills to "crack" the minds of serial killers, repeat rapists and even an obsessed student who targets him and his family.

Brutal, innovative and utterly compelling, Cracker was the crime show of the early 1990s. Controversial for its unapologetic use of random violence, the general seediness of its 'hero' and the raw power of McGovern's dialogue, Cracker hung around for three belting seasons before packing its bags, hightailing it to Hong Kong for a one off special, then quitting while it was ahead. Essential viewing.

EPISODES

SEASON ONE (1993)
The Mad Woman in the Attic (27 September - 4 October 1993)
To Say I Love You (11 October - 25 October 1993)
One Day a Lemming Will Fly (1 November - 8 November 1993)

SEASON TWO (1994)
To Be a Somebody (10 October 1994 - 24 October 1994)
The Big Crunch (31 October - 14 November 1994)
Men Should Weep (21 November - 5 December 1994)

SEASON THREE (1995)
Brotherly Love (22 October - 29 October 1995)
Best Boys (6 November - 13 November 1995)
True Romance (20 November - 27 November 1995)

SPECIAL (1996)
White Ghost (28 October 1996)

SPECIAL (2006)
Nine Eleven (1 October 2006)

Fitz ratkaisee – Finnish title
Für alle Fälle Fitz – German title

1994
British Academy Awards (TV Awards)
Best Actor (Robbie Coltrane) - winner
Best Film or Video Photography: Fiction/Entertainment (Ivan Strasburg) - winner
Best Drama Series (Jimmy McGovern, Gub Neal) - nominated
Best Film or Video Editor: Fiction/Entertainment (Chris Gill, Oral Norrie Ottey, Trevor Waite) - nominated

Royal Television Society, UK
RTS Television Award: Best Actor, Male (Robbie Coltrane) - winner
Best Drama Series (Jimmy McGovern, Gub Neal) - winner
Best Tape and Film Editing: Drama (Chris Gill, Oral Norrie Ottey, Trevor Waite) - winner

Broadcasting Press Guild Awards
Best Actor (Robbie Coltrane) - winner

1995
British Academy Awards (TV Awards)
Best Actor (Robbie Coltrane) - winner
Best Drama Series (Paul Abbott) - winner
Best Actress (Geraldine Somerville) - nominated
Best Sound: Fiction/Entertainment (John Rutherford, John Senior, Phil Smith, John Whitworth, Andy Wyatt) - nominated

British Academy Awards, Scotland
Best Actor: TV (Robert Carlyle) - winner (also for Hamish Macbeth (1995))

Edgar Allan Poe Awards (Edgars)
Best Television Feature or Miniseries (Jimmy McGovern) - winner (for the story To Say I Love You)

1996
British Academy Awards (TV Awards)
Best Actor (Robbie Coltrane) - winner
Best Drama Series (Hilary Bevan Jones) - winner

1997
Edgar Allan Poe Awards (Edgars)
Best Television Feature or Miniseries (Jimmy McGovern) - winner (for the story Brotherly Love)

LINKS

SEQUEL
Cracker: Nine Eleven (2006)

REMAKE
Cracker (1997 - 1998)

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
The 100 Greatest TV Moments (1999)
The 100 Greatest TV Characters (2001)

MAGAZINES

New Musical Express 8 October 1994 p.25 (UK)
review

New Musical Express 28 October 1995 p.30 (UK)
review

New Musical Express 23-30 December 1995 p.71 (UK)
review (by Tommy Udo)

Radio Times 25 September -1 October 1993 pp.48?49 (UK)
illustrated interviews with Robbie Coltrane and forensic psychologist Ian Stephen (Killer Instincts by Sally Brompton)

Radio Times 3-9 September 1994 p.28 (UK)
article

alcoholism, gambling, homosexuality, police, police procedural, psychologists, racism, rape, rapists, serial killers

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009