Product Description: Hot on the heels of PRIME SUSPECT came Robbie Coltrane's (Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies) outstanding creation of "Fitz" in the PBS series CRACKER. Fitz is an addicted gambler a heavy drinker and a brilliant if deeply flawed criminal psychologist. He is to the working mind of a killer what CSI is to a trace of blood or a single hair. For Fitz murder is just the beginning. Three stories follow Fitz as he investigates an accused commuter train killer with amnesia a couple who share love and murder and the killing of a young boy that shakes a community to its core.Running Time: 420 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC: 026359924422
Amazon.com: The compelling Cracker is among the more exciting British mystery series from the 1990s, featuring a hero so flawed he's just as likely to end up inside a jail cell as outside chasing bad guys. Robbie Coltrane, perhaps best known for playing Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies, is unconventional psychologist Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald, a rotund teacher who exhorts students to look within their dark hearts and who gleefully embraces his own addictions to gambling, booze, and nicotine.
Caught in a downward spiral, Fitz sneers as his debts mount and his wife (Barbara Flynn) leaves him, but he rallies when a favorite student is slashed to death on a train in series debut "The Mad Woman in the Attic." The suspect, a longtime amnesiac, is put through grueling police torments, but Fitz believes in the man's innocence, thus establishing his ambivalent relationship with Detective Chief Inspector Bilborough (Christopher Eccleston) and a quasi-romantic alliance with another detective, Jane "Panhandle" Penhaligon (Geraldine Somerville, also from the Potter films). Michael Winterbottom, now a renowned feature filmmaker (Welcome to Sarajevo), provides admirable direction.
Fitz's interest in obsessive behavior and his talent for spinning out instant psychological profiles makes him invaluable to Bilborough in subsequent episode "To Say I Love You," in which a rage-filled young man and his scheming girlfriend kill a loan shark. Though the story is less interesting than the Cracker pilot, Fitz's slow crawl back to self-respect and resentful cooperation with his estranged wife's therapist are irresistible entertainment. Finally, "One Day a Lemming Will Fly," in which the murder of a 13-year-old boy sparks a lynch-mob mentality among the public, is a strong two-parter that raises some interesting crises for Fitz. Does he belong with his wife and kids or with Panhandle? Is he better at his job when his personal life is a disaster? The provocative final scenes make one hunger to see more of Cracker. --Tom Keogh
Cracking cases and expectations "Fitz," played by Robbie Coltrane, is a very interesting and engaging character. He's an amazing criminal psychologist and often more right about a case, profile, and motives than others might accept, but his own life is a mess. If you enjoy police drama that's a bit different and actually explains why crimials do what they do, then Cracker is for you.
I'd been curious about this series ever since I'd heard of it. Additionally, I knew my favotite actor, Christopher Eccleston was in this series as well. I'm in the process of builing a collection all of Christopher Eccleston's recorded performances. I must say, that now that I have both Cracker season 1 and season 2 as well, I'm sorely tempted to get season 3, just to see how the rest of the stories play out. The series is not just about the cases but also about Fitz's life at home and the lives of the Police he works with.
Outstanding British series Please see my other reviews of this series it is well worth the purchase if you are into this sort of thing.
got to love robbie I am a big fan of cracker and just love the collection. If you are a yank and have never watched it, buy it now you wont regret it.
Flawed but brilliant character Coltrane's flawed but brilliant forensic psychologist Fitz makes every scene he's in crackle with gritty intensity. Fitz's genius allows him to infiltrate even the most hardened, psychologically blocked suspect and find the heart of the problem with efficiency, if not aplomb. His many flaws include heavy drinking, gambling, smoking, indifference as both a husband and father, and at least one very close call with marital infidelity. However, he makes no excuses for them. Only to consider them necessary if not crucial manifestations of a life of taking risks. It is refreshing to see a flawed hero. The stale, one dimensional,"Sir Gwayne" type heros of the crime genre lack real humanity, as they are so perfect to be unrealistic; making it difficult for the viewer to relate, as we are all imperfect. Like Fitz himself, this DVD transfer is flawed. Not much different than the VHS version I copied from TV long ago. But worth having for the great writing and performances. A must for the crime genre afficianado.
Love This Series.. The Cracker series is great !! For those of you who think Set 1 is incomplete: "One Day A Lemming Will Fly" IS complete. The (unsatisfying) ending is referred to (by Fitz) in the Set 2 movie "To Be Somebody". The suspected and convicted teacher's name was Cassidy. I wasn't happy with the ending of that one either...but it really was the end.
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