Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3598 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-02-04
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Formats: Box set, PAL
• Number of discs: 5
• Running time: 922 minutes

DVD Description

The Touching Evil - The Complete Series 1-3 box set contains five discs and every episode from the first three series of the dark and gritty crime drama from acclaimed writers Paul Abbott ("Cracker") and Russell T. Davies ("Casanova"). Robson Green takes the lead role of Detective Inspector Creegan--a maverick agent in the Organised and Serial Crime Unit, which was specially created to tackle the growing spectre of serial crime in the UK.

Synopsis

In Touching Evil, Detective Inspector Dave Creegan and his partner Susan Taylor--of the Organised and Serial Crime Unit--deal with crimes involving the seamier side of human nature, like a serial killer with a predilection for the scalps of young women, a tortured relief-worker bent on exorcising demons carried back from Bosnia, and an international ring of black-market adoption agencies. This box set includes every episode from the first three series of the show.

Customer Reviews

evil, in all it's darkness
Robson Green is DI Dave Creegan with Nicola Walker as sidekick DI Susan Taylor in the newly formed Organised Serial Crime Unit (OSC). I put my hands up - I wasn't a Robson Green fan until this. It is well acted, well written, well directed, filmed and edited.

Series 1 consisted of 3 (double episode) films - the first concerns the kidnapping of 3 little boys; the second, an angel of death; the third, a group of desparate teens lured into murder and multilation by an internet game.

Series 2 consists of 3 films - the first is about a killer who has an obsession for women with undyed hair and his follower; the second is about a man suffering from PTSD who decides that killing is the solution to all his problems (this stereotyping of war veterans as being deranged is something that I strongly object to); and the third brings back the father of a victim from a previous case who holds Creegan responsible for his daughters death and goes after revenge by terrorising his family while the team investigates a child smuggling and paedophilia group.

Series 3 consists of 2 films - the first one is about the release of a prisoner who was wrongfully convicted after Creegan "got him to confess" and the search for the real killer - the working class area is depicted as grey and depressive and the local cops as thick and dirty; and the second and final film they are searching for an arsonist who is burning people alive for revenge.

There were 3 series in total and the boxset covers them all.

I have to say that this series reminds me a lot of the "Wire in the Blood" series which was based on the books of Val McDermid - Wire in the Blood: Series 1 and 2 (5 Disc Box Set) [2002] - Wire In The Blood - The Complete Third And Fourth Series [2005] - Wire In The Blood Series 5 [2007], however, this series came before the "Wire in the Blood" series.

There are no extras, but there are English subtitles.

Get ready for some surprises
When the disc one was loading on my DVD machine, I was expecting to watch a good standard British crime drama. Hey, no. What I did not expect was to watch something way better. And that's exactly what happened.

When you have watched enough of cop series, you kind of get used to some procedures. Like: OK, I've seen a twist like this in 5 other films and a turn like that in yet 10 other. Here you can get plenty of things out of standard. To tell the truth, I was totally fascinated by that. OK, I admit I haven't watched the last couple of episodes yet, just because I know there's no more....

Unlike in most cop series here you get to know the identity of the perpetrator quite early, as it's not "who", but "why" and "how" more important. And that will keep you glued to the screen, I promise. And then, all of the main characters have some torments of their own, but if you expect some usual reasons like drinking brothers, fighting for children care (you name it), you'll be disappointed. The characters are very human, and their reasons of suffering are very personal and very credible, OK, sometimes they do almost step over the edge with being emotional, but even then it's done with unquestionable taste. And don't expect any standards. If a man is suffering too much to keep pain contained and pours his heart out, the one who is listening will not start crying for company, he'll do something very different instead. If the grieving parents are invited to address the perpetrator on TV (a cliche!!!), just get ready for one one the best moments. Enough of examples, they are NUMEROUS. By the way, I know that there's a remake of this done in the States, but I don't think I'll ever risk watching it.

Well, you can't call this totally flawless, there are a few (very few) moments, that leave you with your eyebrows raised (if a boy has two mums, you might think there is, or rather must have been some 10 years ago, a DNR test for that matter). But then, maybe that's only that old grumbling me, so sorry.

On the whole, a HUGE pleasure to watch. Don't get me wrong, though. A pleasure of a very, very dark kind.

And then, there's Robson Green. I still can't decide for sure if I really like him or not, but one thing is clear: he is special. You'd never confuse him with anybody else, his way of acting and those scary eyes of his. I even could imagine Robson Green in some black-and-white movie with his eyes shining blue anyway.

P.S. English subtitles available.

An example of great british television
Although I think I missed most of the early series of Touching Evil, having tuned in every week to subsequent episodes I am glad to see this is finally being released on what I hope (having not seen it all) is it's entirity.

The show revolves around the Organised & Serial Crime Unit team led by D.I. Dave Kreegan (Green) and his team of D.I. Susan Taylor (Walker), and D.C. Mark Rivers (Dingwall).

This is no ordinary police show though as one of the previous reviews has said. We get to know early on who is responsible for the crime and the show itself concentrates on the How and more importantly why the person committed the acts.

The psychological aspect of the criminals is investigated to determine the why, something which I think may have been a first for British TV crime series and which has been done to great effect by the USA in their series.

This isn't your usual program though, each of the characters have their problems, not cliched ones which you have seen in other programs but subjects which were up to this time I guess may have rarely explored giving Touching Evil a destinct look and feel to watch that seperates it's forerunners.

There is also the acting, I must admit to not being a fan of Robson Green having seen him previously in Soldier Soldier and his thankfully brief musical career, but Touching Evil does really show what a great actor he is, giving emotion and depth to a character that at times does seem to be distant from his colleagues and family. Green is also joined by an excellent supporting cast of Nicola Walker and Shaun Dingwall two actors probably familiar to audiences here in a variety of roles.