Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #956 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-04-21
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Formats: PAL, Colour
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 300 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Reviews
There’s not too much originality to the concept behind ITV’s drama series The Fixer. But it’s the execution of it that lifts the show onto the recommend pile.

John Mercer (played by Andrew Buchan) finds himself let out of prison early, albeit with a bit of a catch. It soon becomes clear that the price Mercer must pay for his early release is to become a hired gun for the authorities, whether he wants to be or not.

Also starring Peter Mullan and Tamzin Outhwaite, The Fixer soon sets its sights on delivering solid action, and lots of it. What’s more, it succeeds: this is as entertaining a contemporary action drama as ITV has come up with in some time, and the pedigree of the programme makers (whose experience brings in the likes of Hustle and Spooks) is evident from the very early stages.

Right from the moment the opening episode explodes onto the screen, The Fixer is a relentless journey, packing in plenty of thrills and excitement. Well written, and with interesting characters too, it manages to lift itself above the well-trodden central idea, and offer up many hours of strong entertainment. Let’s hope that more adventures of The Fixer are in the offing. --Jon Foster

DVD Description
From the makers of Spooks, Hustle and Life on Mars, this is ITV's latest action-packed, high-octane series.

John Mercer (Andy Buchan) is an assassin for the state - beholden to his sinister master but not the boundaries of the law.

Released from prison unexpectedly early, Mercer is introduced to Lenny Douglas, a police officer retired on the grounds of "ill health". He quickly realises his newfound freedom comes at a price. Douglas runs an unofficial operation with a single brief: dealing with untouchable criminals and disorganising crime. Mercer’s role is that of hitman.

On hand to help Mercer fulfil each hit are Calum, whose main interests are girls, drugs and music, and the sharp tongued but seductive Rose, an ex-copper forced out of the police by scandal. The team are brought together to bring order where the law has failed. But can operating outside the usual parameters of the law – even under the pretext of protecting it - ever be justified?

Starring: Andrew Buchan (Cranford, Jane Eyre), Peter Mullan (Children of Men, My Name is Joe), Tamzin Outhwaite (Hotel Babylon, EastEnders), Jody Lee Latham (Shameless, Holby City).

Synopsis
From the makers of SPOOKS, HUSTLE and LIFE ON MARS, this is an action-packed, high-octane series that asks whether operating outside the usual parameters of the law - under the pretext of protecting it - can ever be justified.


In the shadowy world between right and wrong, John Mercer is a modern-day gun for hire, beholden to his sinister master but not the boundaries - moral or otherwise - of the law. Released from prison unexpectedly early, Mercer is introduced to Lenny Jameson - a police officer 'retired on grounds of ill health'. Jameson makes it clear to Mercer that his freedom comes at a price - he must remove an untouchable criminal who has recently dispatched a senior police officer to an early grave.

Customer Reviews

Good quality from Independent Television
ITV got the cream of the crop with this one. This feels so BBC. It is ever so beautifully filmographed. It is beautifully cast, except maybe for Tamsin Outhwaite.

My only gripe is that I felt a little short-changed as it only lasted for 6 episodes. This should have gone to 8 episodes, slowed down the underlying storyline a little more and allowed it to develop rather than rush the underlying storyline through.

Still, worth watching.

Could ITV fix it for there to be a second series of this absorbing crime drama
The Fixer seems to be the latest attempt by ITV to produce the sort of gritty urban drama that the Americans excel at. But it's not a cop show for which we should be thankful , as home grown cop shows are invariably rubbish and after the American show "The Wire" everyone else might as well give up because nothing is going to get better than that. Anyway like the brilliant French film "Nikita" Fixer works on the premise that someone who has committed a crime can be offered a life outside of prison but to in order to do so must work as an assassin for the state.
John Mercer (Andrew Buchan ) is former special forces .After discovering a terrible secret about his aunt and uncle he executes them and is subsequently imprisoned .After five years inside he is suddenly offered a way out by Lenny Douglas (Peter Mullan) who tells him that if he comes to work for him as part of some shadowy secretive government agency he will be allowed to live out of prison. On the plus side this allows him to spend time with his sister Jess (Liz White) who is a single parent. On the down side he must move into a flat he will share with Calum (Jody Latham) Lenny,s errand boy, a mouthy cocky jack the lad whose manner grates on the quiet brooding Mercer. To further complicate things there is disgraced ex-copper Rose (Tamzin Outhwaite) who also works for Lenny . Some of the things she has to do for Lenny are less than salubrious and this riles Mercer as they have a mutual attraction for each other. What really riles Mercer though is the power Lenny has over him . He feels that he is trapped in the same way he was in prison , that Lenny is less than honest with him and that his relationship with his sister makes him vulnerable.
Over the six episodes relationships develop and we gradually learn more about the characters with the initially irritating Calum becoming more sympathetic and it all reaches a head for episode six where Mercer is given a possible way out by one of the men he has been tasked to put to death. The best episode pits Mercer against his predecessor gone rogue . We also learn more about the link between Rose and Lenny.
The Fixer is well written and well acted with Peter Mullan And Jody Latham especially good. Andrew Buchan does the gloomy anti -hero thing well enough while Tamzin Outhwaite actually gets a decent role for a change as the feisty motivated Rose. If anything for me it's not gritty enough . I'd have like it to be tougher and harder hitting but for a main stream drama it's still reasonably uncompromising.
The DVD comes with a making of documentary but no commentaries which are always the best way to get behind the scenes and characters further. There is no guarantee that The Fixer will return for a second series at this moment which is a great shame as having got all the character and situational set-ups out of the way the writers could concentrate on Mercer's role as an enforcer and assassin. So if someone could fix it for The Fixer , unlike Alan Partridge to get a second series that would be tremendous. We need more shows like this not less.

Fabulous
This is great series with a wonderful, fast paced action packed opening episode in particular. All of the cahracters work really well. The stories stand alone but also build up the relationships and the tension. Andrew Buchan as the conflicted hero works for me and you really feel for Mercer. Well done ITV- it's the only thing on the channel I've watched for ages. Please, please do commission a second series. It's cut above many other domestic dramas and deserves more time to grow.