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Waking the Dead (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Waking the Dead is a British television
police procedural
crime drama series produced by the BBC
featuring a fictional Cold Case Unit comprising CID
police officers, a psychological profiler and a forensic scientist. A pilot episode aired in September 2000 and there have been a total of nine series since. Each story is split into two hour-long episodes, shown on consecutive nights on BBC One
. A third series episode won an International Emmy Award in 2004. The programme was also shown on BBC America
in the United States
- though these screenings are edited to allow for advertising breaks - as well as UKTV (Australia
and New Zealand
) and ABC1
(Australia). The show aired its final episode on 11 April 2011.
A spin-off show, titled The Body Farm
, revolving around forensic scientist Eve Lockhart (Tara Fitzgerald
) was announced by the BBC in January 2011.
portrays the workaholic and often eccentric Peter Boyd on whom plotlines are often centred. As the series has progressed, storylines have focused on the personal lives of the characters as well as the criminal investigations (for example, Boyd's temper control in "Anger Management").
Following the successful transmission of the third series and an International Emmy Award nomination for "Special Relationship" written by Stephen Davis and directed by David Thacker, a further two series were commissioned with the number of stories expanded from four to six.
Waking the Dead won an International Emmy Award the following year for "Breaking Glass" written by Stephen Davis and directed by Maurice Phillips and "Multistorey" written by Ed Whitmore and directed by Bob Bierman.
2 by 2 Entertain Ltd
. under the BBC DVD banner. All nine series are also available in a boxset. Region 1 is distributed by BBC Video
and Region 4 by Roadshow
.
British television
Public television broadcasting started in the United Kingdom in 1936, and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channelsTaking the base Sky EPG TV Channels. A breakdown is impossible due to a) the number of...
police procedural
Police procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
crime drama series produced by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
featuring a fictional Cold Case Unit comprising CID
Criminal Investigation Department
The Crime Investigation Department is the branch of all Territorial police forces within the British Police and many other Commonwealth police forces, to which plain clothes detectives belong. It is thus distinct from the Uniformed Branch and the Special Branch.The Metropolitan Police Service CID,...
police officers, a psychological profiler and a forensic scientist. A pilot episode aired in September 2000 and there have been a total of nine series since. Each story is split into two hour-long episodes, shown on consecutive nights on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
. A third series episode won an International Emmy Award in 2004. The programme was also shown on BBC America
BBC America
BBC America is an American television network, owned and operated by BBC Worldwide, and available on both cable and satellite.-History:The channel launched on March 29, 1998, broadcasting comedy, drama and lifestyle programs from BBC Television and other British television broadcasters like ITV and...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
- though these screenings are edited to allow for advertising breaks - as well as UKTV (Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
) and ABC1
ABC1
ABC1 was a United Kingdom based television channel from Disney using the branding of the Disney owned American network, ABC.The channel initially launched exclusively on the British digital terrestrial television platform Freeview on 27 September 2004. On 10 December 2004 it was launched on...
(Australia). The show aired its final episode on 11 April 2011.
A spin-off show, titled The Body Farm
The Body Farm (TV series)
The Body Farm is a British police procedural crime drama series for the BBC network, featuring a fictional private forensic pathology facility that conducts scientific research to help solve crimes, lead by Dr...
, revolving around forensic scientist Eve Lockhart (Tara Fitzgerald
Tara Fitzgerald
Tara Anne Cassandra Fitzgerald is an English actress who has appeared in feature films, television, radio and the stage....
) was announced by the BBC in January 2011.
Overview
The programme followed the work of a special police team who investigate "cold cases", usually murders that took place a number of years ago and were never solved. The team uses evidence which has just come to light, as well as contemporary technology to examine previous evidence. Trevor EveTrevor Eve
Trevor John Eve is a British film and television actor. In 1979 he gained fame as the eponymous lead in the detective series Shoestring and is also known for his role as Detective Superintendent Peter Boyd in BBC television drama Waking the Dead.-Early life:Eve was born in Sutton Coldfield,...
portrays the workaholic and often eccentric Peter Boyd on whom plotlines are often centred. As the series has progressed, storylines have focused on the personal lives of the characters as well as the criminal investigations (for example, Boyd's temper control in "Anger Management").
Characters
- Detective Superintendent Peter Boyd (Trevor EveTrevor EveTrevor John Eve is a British film and television actor. In 1979 he gained fame as the eponymous lead in the detective series Shoestring and is also known for his role as Detective Superintendent Peter Boyd in BBC television drama Waking the Dead.-Early life:Eve was born in Sutton Coldfield,...
, 2000–2011) — The head of the Cold Case Unit, Boyd has a unique style of policing (not least shouting at and physically assaulting suspects in the interview room). His involvement in the Unit stems from the disappearance of his young son in the 1990s. Though sometimes appearing detached, Boyd is close to his team, particularly Mel Silver, whose death haunts him two years later. Another aspect of Boyd's character which has occasionally compromised his impartiality is his weakness for attractive women, at least one of whom turned out to be implicated in a murder investigated by the team. According to information seen briefly on screen whilst he is being fingerprinted after his arrest for drunk driving, Boyd's middle name is Timothy, and he was born on the 15th of July, 1950. His address is given as 17 Probert Road in Greenwich. In the pilot episode, Boyd has a wife and baby, but these characters were removed for the start of the first series. Instead, in season 1, it is revealed that his elder son, Joe, was a drug-dependent runaway who disappeared whilst living on the streets; his younger son, Luke, who led a similarly tumultuous life, returned in the first episode of the seventh series, but was murdered at the end of the same series, causing tremendous grief for Boyd as the last scenes of the series see him cry over his son's body in the mortuary. In the pilot, Boyd's rank was Detective Chief Inspector, but from the commencement of the first season he was addressed as "Superintendent".
- Dr Grace Foley (Sue JohnstonSue JohnstonSusan "Sue" Johnston, OBE is a BAFTA nominated English actress best known for playing Sheila Grant in the long-running soap opera Brookside , Grace Foley in Waking the Dead from 2000 to 2011 and Barbara Royle in the BBC comedy The Royle Family between 1998 and 2000, and again in 2006, 2008, 2009,...
, 2000–2011) — Grace is a psychological profiler with nearly 30 years experience in the field. Her presence on the Unit provides a rational counter to Boyd's somewhat unorthodox methods, but the pair enjoy a close working relationship and often engage in witty banter. In Series 5 it is revealed that she fell in love with the married officer in charge of her first case and became pregnant with his child. She chose to have an abortion and he later died in a drunk driving accident. In the season 8 episode "Endgame" it is revealed that Grace has cancer and is awaiting an operation.
- Detective Sergeant/Detective Inspector Spencer Jordan (Wil JohnsonWil JohnsonWilbert "Wil" Johnson is an English actor, who has had notable television roles in Waking the Dead and Babyfather, and on stage in Othello.- Early life :...
, 2000–2011) — Spencer works closely alongside Boyd in many cases, often joining him in "good-cop-bad-cop" routines in the interview room. Before joining the CCU, Spencer worked for the Atomic Energy ConstabularyUK Atomic Energy Authority ConstabularyThe United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary was the armed security police force of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. The force existed for 50 years, up until 1 April 2005....
. His partner from that job shot him in "Cold Fusion". After he had returned to work and his wound had healed, he got a tattoo around the scar, which Grace suggested was a way of coping with the ordeal. In Season 8 it is revealed that Spencer is unhappy in the Cold Case Squad and is considering leaving.
- Dr Eve Lockhart (Tara FitzgeraldTara FitzgeraldTara Anne Cassandra Fitzgerald is an English actress who has appeared in feature films, television, radio and the stage....
, 2007–2011) — Eve has served as the team's forensic pathologist since the beginning of Series 6, having replaced Dr Felix Gibson. Like her predecessors, Eve is employed by the Home OfficeHome OfficeThe Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
but assigned to the Cold Case Unit, and as such is not a police officerPolice officerA police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
. Eve's career has allowed her to accumulate a body farmBody FarmA body farm is a research facility where human decomposition can be studied in a variety of settings. The aim is to gain a better understanding of the decomposition process, permitting the development of techniques for extracting information from human remains...
. It is revealed in "Pieta" that she helped in a mass grave excavation in BosniaBosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
. In "Substitute" she has a sexual relationship with an aid worker, who becomes a suspect when Eve illegally samples his DNA. Eve smokes.
- Detective Constable/Detective Sergeant Amelia "Mel" Silver (Claire GooseClaire GooseClaire Goose is a British actress. She is best known for her role as nurse Tina Seabrook in the BBC television drama Casualty and later as DS Mel Silver in Waking the Dead.-Life and career:...
, 2000–2004) — Mel's surname was "Silverman" in the pilot, but "Silver" thereafter. Much like Grace, Mel freely questioned Boyd if she believed he was looking in the wrong direction in a case. She was close to everyone on the team, especially Frankie. It was revealed in "Fugue States", that she was previously named "Mary Price", and her mother was called "Jane Price". She was taken from her mother as a child, as her mother was seen as mentally unfit. She later sees her mother and finds she has a half sibling. She was killed in "Shadowplay", but appeared in archive footage in "Towers of Silence". In the sixth series, her death came back to haunt the Cold Case Unit with a mysterious pendant being sent to the office, with the sender claiming it belonged to Mel. It subsequently emerged that she was secretly working on a case with an American "war" expert, this is explained in "Yahrzeit".
- Dr Frankie Wharton (Holly Aird, 2000–2004) — Frankie, the Unit's forensic pathologist, took a conscientious approach to her job and was good friends with Mel. After Mel's death, Frankie left the Unit to return to research. Actress Holly Aird left the programme owing to her pregnancy.
- Dr Felix Gibson (Esther HallEsther HallEsther Hall is an English actress who has had high profile roles in a number of television dramas.Born in Manchester in 1970 and brought up in Cheshire, she took A levels in Manchester before training in Theatre Arts for three years at the University of Leeds Bretton Hall College where she gained a...
, 2005) — Felix took over as the Unit's forensic pathologist after Frankie's departure and, like her predecessor, would often leave the office to join her colleagues in the field. She would not hesitate to stand up to Boyd. Esther Hall played the role for one series before leaving. It is currently unknown why the character left.
- Detective Constable Stella Goodman (Félicité du JeuFélicité Du JeuFélicité Du Jeu is a French actress. She is best known for her role as DC Stella Goodman in the BBC cold case show Waking The Dead. A multilingual actress, Du Jeu acts in French and English...
, 2005–2009) — Stella joined the Cold Case Unit as the permanent replacement for Mel in "Black Run" and became good friends with Spencer. Boyd was initially hostile towards her but eventually came to accept her. This trust was betrayed in "Cold Fusion" (Series 5) when it was revealed she had unwittingly sent information on the Unit to her godfather. By the beginning of Series 6, the team's confidence in her seemed to be fully restored. Stella was shot in the leg in the first part of "Magdalene 26" (Series 8), and died in the second part after suffering thrombosisThrombosisThrombosis is the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood through the circulatory system. When a blood vessel is injured, the body uses platelets and fibrin to form a blood clot to prevent blood loss...
.
- Detective Sergeant Katrina Howard (Stacey RocaStacey RocaStacey Roca is a British actress, known for portraying Rachel in The Office and Claudie Stephenson in Strictly Confidential.-Background:Originally from South Africa, Roca moved to Formby at the age of twelve...
, 2009–2010) — Howard first appears in "Magdalene 26" (Series 8) as a police constable, formerly a member of the Serious Organised Crime AgencySerious Organised Crime AgencyThe Serious Organised Crime Agency is a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom under Home Office sponsorship...
with a history of insubordination. By start of the following story, "End of the Night", she has become a member of the Cold Case Unit at Boyd's request, replacing DC Stella Goodman. She has left the unit in between the eighth and ninth series.
- Detective Superintendent Sarah Cavendish (Eva BirthistleEva BirthistleEva Birthistle is an Irish actress, best known for her role in Ae Fond Kiss. She won the London Film Critics Circle British Actress of the Year award in 2004 and has twice won the IFTA Best Actress in a Leading Role award.-Biography:...
, 2011) - Sarah was transferred to the Unit at the start of Series 9 having been moved from Counter-Terrorism after an incident led to her becoming the scapegoat. She was one of the youngest Superintendents in the history of the Met and, until the incident, a high flyer. She is murdered in the show's final episode by the Assistant Chief Commissioner Tony Nicholson because of her knowledge of his crimes and by spying on his interactions at The Emirates Stadium with one of the antagonists of the episode. Her body was found in the backyard shed of Detective Superintendent Peter Boyd in an attempt to frame him for the murder.
Reception
The first series secured strong ratings, with "Burn Out, part 1" receiving 8.4m viewers and a 38% share. Persistently high ratings meant the programme was recommissioned each year for either the summer or winter schedule. The 2007 series began with strong ratings, with "Wren Boys, part 1" achieving 9.2m viewers and a 35.2% share. The second part dropped to 8.6m but still gained a 33% share.Following the successful transmission of the third series and an International Emmy Award nomination for "Special Relationship" written by Stephen Davis and directed by David Thacker, a further two series were commissioned with the number of stories expanded from four to six.
Waking the Dead won an International Emmy Award the following year for "Breaking Glass" written by Stephen Davis and directed by Maurice Phillips and "Multistorey" written by Ed Whitmore and directed by Bob Bierman.
DVD releases
All nine series of Waking the Dead have been released on RegionDVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
2 by 2 Entertain Ltd
2 Entertain
2 Entertain is a British video and music publisher, formed by the merger of BBC Video and Video Collection International in 2004....
. under the BBC DVD banner. All nine series are also available in a boxset. Region 1 is distributed by BBC Video
2 Entertain
2 Entertain is a British video and music publisher, formed by the merger of BBC Video and Video Collection International in 2004....
and Region 4 by Roadshow
Roadshow Home Video
Roadshow Entertainment is a division of the Australian media company Village Roadshow . Notable releases include First Blood, Mad Max, Gallipoli, and The Terminator. Their first release was Scanners...
.
| DVD name | Release dates | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Region DVD region code DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region... 1 |
Region 2 | Region 4 | |
| The Complete Series One & Pilot | October 24, 2006 | September 12, 2005 | March 2, 2006 |
| The Complete Series Two | October 16, 2007 | June 26, 2006 | April 1, 2010 |
| The Complete Series Three | January 20, 2009 | September 25, 2006 | June 1, 2010 |
| The Complete Series Four | January 19, 2010 | January 29, 2007 | August 4, 2010 |
| The Complete Series Five | January 18, 2011 | September 10, 2007 | October 5, 2010 |
| The Complete Series Six | TBA | May 19, 2008 | December 2, 2010 |
| The Complete Series Seven | TBA | May 3, 2010 | February 3, 2011 |
| The Complete Series Eight | TBA | July 12, 2010 | May 3, 2011 |
| The Complete Series Nine | TBA | May 2, 2011 | TBA |
| The Complete Waking The Dead | TBA | May 2, 2011 | TBA |
See also
The investigation of "Cold Cases" has been a theme for several detective dramas, including:- The Enigma FilesThe Enigma FilesThe Enigma Files is a British television detective drama that ran for one series of fifteen episodes in 1980.-Plot summary:The series was a police procedural drama, written by Derek Ingrey, about a Police Officer who has been sidelined from regular duties and, having been placed in charge of a...
, UK (BBC), 1980 - Cold SquadCold SquadCold Squad is a Canadian police procedural television series first broadcast in 1998 that followed the investigations of a part of the Vancouver Police Department Homicide Division tasked with solving cold cases, the titular Cold Squad, as led by Sergeant Ali McCormick .The cast of Cold Squad was...
, Canada (CTV), 1998 - Cold Case FilesCold Case FilesCold Case Files is documentary television series on the cable channel A&E Network hosted by Bill Kurtis that documents the investigation of various long-unsolved murders through the use of modern forensic science , and criminal psychology, in addition to recent breakthroughs in the...
, US (A&E), 1999 (true cases) - New Tricks, UK (BBC), 2003
- Cold Case, US (CBS), 2003
External links
- Waking the Dead at bbc.co.ukBbc.co.ukBBC Online is the brand name and home for the BBC's UK online service. It is a large network of websites including such high profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site Cbeebies, and learning services such as Bitesize...
- "Shadowplay" shooting script at BBC Writers Room