Cracker: The Mad Woman in the Attic (1993)

Date(s) of Broadcast: 27 October 1993 - 4 November 1993
Number of Episodes: 2
Average Episode Running Times: 50 mins
Format: colour
Sound: Dolby Surround

PRODUCTION
Production Company / Copyright: Granada Television
Executive Producer: Sally Head
Producer: Gub Neal
Production Manager: Liam Foster
Production Coordinator: Tracy Lee

SCRIPT
Script: Jimmy McGovern
Script Editors: Catriona McKenzie, Nicola Shindler
Script Associate: Gwenda Bagshaw

DIRECTION
Director: Michael Winterbottom
1st Assistant Director: John Friend Newman
2nd Assistant Director: Emma Bodger
3rd Assistant Director: Rachel Longhurst

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Ivan Strasburg
Steadicam: Simon Bray
Clapper Loader: Carl Hudson
Focus Puller: Richard Brierley
Grips: Mike Fisher
Grips Assistant: Ian Maghie
Chargehand Electrician: David Radcliffe

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Trevor Waite
Assistant Film Editor: Peter Christelis

MUSIC
Music / Performed By: Julian Wastall
Songs Performed By: Carol Kidd (Summertime; Stormy Weather)

SOUND
Sound Mixer: Phil Smith
Boom Operator: Tony Cooper
Dubbing Mixer: John Whitworth
Dubbing Editors: John Rutherford, John Thomas

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up Supervisor: Helen King
Make Up Assistant: Anastasia Shirley
Costume Designer: Janty Yates
Wardrobe Supervisor: Sally Mason

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Chris Wilkinson
Art Director: Deborah Morley
Prop Dressers: Vic Shorovay, Migel Place
Prop Buyer: Ron Pritchard
Action Props: Peter O'Rourke
Graphic Designer: Phil Buckley

MISCELLANEOUS
Continuity: Dorothy Friend
Production Finance: Chris Wheeler
Producer's Secretary: Maria Grimley
Chargehand ASM: Frank Massey
Unit Publicist: Mark Borkowski

LOCATIONS
Location Manager: Ken Mair

CASTING
Casting Director: Gail Stevens
Additional Casting: Beverley Keogh
Casting Assistant: Andrew Pryor

STUNTS
Stunt Coordinators: Chris Webb, Peter Brayham

CAST
PART ONE
Robbie Coltrane (Fitz)
Rob Palmer (racing commentator)
Jeffrey Robert (Head of Psychology)
Andy Debine (guard on train)
Lorcan Cranitch (DS Jimmy Beck)
Christopher Eccleston (DCI Billborough)
Louise Downie (Jacqui Appleby)
Geraldine Somerville (DS Jane Penhaligon)
Ian Mercer (DS Giggs)
Ron Meadows (Roberts)
Paul Copley (pathologist)
Kerry Shale (scene of crime expert)
Vincent Paul Davies (taxi driver)
Kieran O'Brien (Mark Fitzgerald)
Tess Thomson (Kate Fitzgerald)
Barbara Flynn (Judith Fitzgerald)
Carol Kidd (nightclub singer)
Peter Faulkner (Mike)
Kathy Jamieson (Jo)
Paulette Whitstable (waitress)
Kika Markham (Ann Appleby)
John Grillo (Simon Appleby)
Vannessa Kirkpatrick (newscaster)
Julie Westwood (PR woman)
Adrian Dunbar (Kelly)
Philippa Howell (Dr Turner)
Alan David (Hanrahan)
Tony Xu (Dr Soraya)
Sunetra Sarker (receptionist)
Seamus O'Neill (DC Jones)
Renny Krupinski (voice expert)
Fine Time Fontayne (bookie)
Danny Davies (ticket inspector)

PART TWO
Robbie Coltrane (Fitz)
Christopher Eccleston (DCI Billborough)
Seamus O'Neill (DC Jones)
Lorcan Cranitch (DS Jimmy Beck)
Ian Mercer (DS Giggs)
Paul Copley (pathologist)
Adrian Dunbar (Kelly)
Alan Partington (Mr Hobbs)
Romy Baskerville (Irene Hobbs)
Daryl Fishwick (Mrs Forbes)
Kika Markham (Ann Appleby)
John Grillo (Simon Appleby)
Edward Peel (Chief Super)
Geraldine Somerville (DS Penhaligon)
David Crelin (Quinlan)
Kieran O'Brien (Mark Fitzgerald)
Andrew Brittain (presenter)
Diane Adderley (Mrs Royle)
Nicholas Woodeson (Hennessy)
Rob Palmer (racing commentator)
Fine Time Fontayne (bookie)
Nelson Fletcher (custody seargeant)
Louise Downie (Jacqui Appleby)
Don Henderson (Hennessy Senior)
Amanda Loy-Ellis (girl on train)

PLOT SUMMARY

Psychologist and university lecturer Fitz is having serious problems controlling his drinking and gambling and is watching his family deteriorate around him. He's called in by Greater Manchester police to help them investigate the murder of a young woman on a commuter train. Their chief suspect, found unconscious by the tracks, claims amnesia - but is he lying and is he really the killer?

Our first introduction to the controversial Fitz, his highly dysfunctional family life and the brutality of the line of work he pursues. The uncompromising nature of the series is signalled early on, by the grisly scenes at the murder site, the forensic team taking great delight in detailing exactly how the woman is likely to have died and how much blood she is likely to have lost. The confrontational approach marked Cracker from the outset as being quite unlike anything else on British television at the time. The comparatively cosier Inspector Morse, Wycliffe or Wexford would never have gone down this route.

1993
October
27: UK - part one television broadcast (on ITV)

November
4: UK - part two television broadcast (on ITV)

MAGAZINES

Radio Times 25 September - 1 October 1993 p.91
credits

KEYWORDS

alcoholism, amnesia, forensic psychologists, gambling, police, psychologists, students, trains, universities

Last Updated: 15 October, 2008