Lawless (UK TV series)

Lawless
Genre Crime drama
Written by Chris Lang
Directed by Roger Gartland
Starring Trevor Eve
Orla Brady
David Calder
Ralph Brown
Dermot Crowley
Darrell D'Silva
Composer(s) The Insects
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 1
No. of episodes 2 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) George Faber
Charles Pattinson
George Palmer
Producer(s) Tom Grieves
Production location(s) Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, UK
Cinematography Mike Spragg
Editor(s) Jamie McCoan
Running time 90 minutes
Production company(s) Company Pictures
Distributor All3Media
Release
Original network ITV/STV/UTV
Picture format 16:9
Audio format Stereo
Original release 8 November (2004-11-08) – 9 November 2004 (2004-11-09)

Lawless is a two-part British television thriller miniseries, first broadcast on ITV from 8 to 9 November 2004. Written by Chris Lang, directed by Roger Gartland and starring Trevor Eve, Orla Brady and David Calder, Lawless follows the story of DI John Paxton, who begins to question his job when a murderer walks free from court because of a legal technicality. The two-part miniseries was commissioned in 2003, along with another two-part miniseries written by Lang, Amnesia. The miniseries gathered good viewing figures, with the first part watched by 7.17 million, and the second by 5.65 million.[1] Unlike Amnesia, the series has never been released on DVD.

Production

Trevor Eve said of his role in the series; "In one scene I had to drag myself out of the Tyne. They'd [the producers] selected a particularly filthy dockside for the purpose, so that wasn't particularly enjoyable. I have to say the novelty of stunts and things like that has gone for me. The driving, I like. I did a lot of the driving stunts myself and there's a lot of racing around Newcastle. But the jumping off the bridge – the stuntman did that one! The beard comes off in a vain attempt to not look like the person the police are looking for. I didn't really grow the beard for a part, but I did Troy last year and when I got back to the UK, I literally went straight on to set and they started to shave off the beard, but then realised that underneath my skin was white – whereas the rest of my face was quite tanned. So we decided to keep it rather than have to wear loads of make-up. I hate shaving anyway, so I'm glad it's proved a popular look."[2]

Critical reception

The Express said of the series; "This is one of those dramas that has you gripped from the start. Outstanding. Trevor Eve was brilliant." The Daily Mail said; "Eve is one of the most mesmerising actors on television. You just can't take your eyes off him." The Telegraph said; "Nobody who saw the first episode of Lawless is likely to feel short changed, the pace, confidence and generally slick plotting make for an exciting watch." Radio Times said of the miniseries; "A strong cast, a tight script, a very watchable drama." The Sun also commented; "Trevor Eve projects are usually wonderful and this is no exception. A very watchable drama."[3]

Cast

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUK viewers
(millions) [4]
1"Episode 1"Roger GartlandChris Lang8 November 2004 (2004-11-08)7.17
A killer escapes justice on a technicality, and a senior police officer proposes that he and his colleagues take justice into their own hands. When the officer is murdered, the innocent DI John Paxton is blamed and goes on the run.
2"Episode 2"Roger GartlandChris Lang9 November 2004 (2004-11-09)5.65
DI John Paxton, implicated in the murder of his boss, is on the run, and trying to find the real killer, but Kinney, the only man who could help establish Paxton's innocence, has been drowned.

References

  1. ↑ "Weekly top 30 programmes - BARB". Barb.co.uk. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  2. ↑ "Dirty business for Trevor Eve". Manchester Evening News. 19 February 2007. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  3. ↑ "Lawless - Chris Lang". Chrislang.co.uk. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  4. ↑ "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". Barb.co.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2014. (No permanent link available. Search for relevant dates.)
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