Cracker Complete Collection Box Set

Customer Reviews:

Better than soaps!.......2008-02-11

A class of it's own,people go on about The Soprano's etc,but this is actually close to home,alcoholic,gambling chancer,except i don't work with the police! An all time great!

A classic, consistently gripping TV drama series........2007-07-30

I remember being packed off to bed whenever my parents would settle down to watch the latest episode of Cracker - my parents none-too-keen on letting their ten year old watch such a dark and disturbing reality-based drama - so I've only really become familiar with it through subsequent TV repeats and now through this DVD box-set. As others have noted, the original shows are absolutely astounding, and more-than stand-up to repeated viewings over a decade on.

Throughout each of the ten episodes (often broken into two or three hour-long episodes when shown on television) we see Jimmy McGovern's writing at a consistent peak. Not only are the stories interesting, intelligent and believable, they're also filled with strong characters, brilliant dialog (that goes from the shocking - Albie's confession towards the end of episode three, To Be A Somebody - to the dramatic - much of the dialogue at the end of Brotherly Love - right the way through to the comedic - the great back-and-forth banter between Fitz and the police), whilst the whole show is taken even further into the realms of greatness thanks to the astounding direction and tremendous performances from the highly esteemed cast. There's also the "soap-opera" elements of each of the three series, too - which keeps our interest in the characters and guarantees our return to each subsequent episode - with McGovern layering each of the crime-stories alongside scenes depicting Fitz's troubled home-life, and the various sub-plots of the cops... most notably, DCI David Bilborough, DS Wise, DS Jane Penhaligon, and the tortured DS Jimmy Beck.

The stories are always great... from the low-key first episode, The Mad Woman in the Attic, to the international Hong-Kong set 1996 special, White Ghost, with McGovern (and later Paul Abbot, who took over for the final two episodes of series three) tying the drama to characters we can believe in and villains that are never two-dimensional caricatures. My favourite episodes include episode two, To Say I Love You, One Day A Lemming Will Fly, To Be A Somebody, Men Should Weep and Brotherly Love, with McGovern looking at standard themes, like guilt, revenge, gambling, petty-theft, alcoholism and accidental death, alongside more topical or, indeed, controversial issues, like rape, murder, religious fanaticism, racism, paedophilia, kidnap and suicide. Episode one of the second series, To Be A Somebody, even went one-step further to involve a more social (or political) agenda with the allusions to the Hillsborough tragedy. This episode would be the real turning point for the whole series, with McGovern orchestrating the brutal murder of one of the central characters, which will have a devastating ripple effect on the lives of Beck and Penhaligon in subsequent episodes, Men Should Weep and Brotherly Love.

Brotherly Love is perhaps my favourite episode of the entire series, featuring strong and striking direction from Roy Battersby, great writing from McGovern and a tremendous set of performances from guest-stars Brid Brennan, David Calder, Ruth Sheen and an absolutely standout performance from Lorcan Cranitch as the volatile Jimmy Beck. Throughout the series, the performances of the central characters are always believable and compelling, with each member of the cast getting their own big-dramatic storyline (the aforementioned Lorcan and his gradual decent through Men Should Weep and Brotherly Love; Christopher Eccleston is fantastic throughout the first series, building to his confrontational scene half-way through To Be A Somebody; and Geraldine Somerville is suitably affecting in one of the most controversial storylines, Men Should Weep). Meanwhile, we have the central performance of Robbie Coltrane as Fitz, the titular "cracker", who creates a completely realistic and believable character, completely at odds with the kind of work he was known for prior to the series.

As impressive as the lead cast is, there is strong support from a wide-array of British acting talent, with the likes of Adrian Dunbar, Andrew Tiernan, Susan Lynch, Tim Healy, Frances Tomelty, Jim Carter, James Fleet, Ricky Tomlinson, Paul Barber, Liam Cunningham, Emily Joyce (and so on, and so on...) all giving great, dramatic performances, whilst the series also introduced us to a wide-range of new acting talent, particularly Robert Carlyle, Samantha Morton and John Simm. The series would also bring together a collection of excellent TV technicians, producers and directors, most notably Tim Fywell (To Be A Somebody, True Romance), Andy Wilson (To Say I Love You), Jean Stuart (Men Should Weep), Roy Battersby (Brotherly Love) and Simon Cellan-Jones (One Day A Lemming Will Fly), et al, as well as offering an early break for now-acclaimed British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom, who, at thirty-one, would follow his episode of Cracker (The Mad Woman in the Attic) with a clutch of award-winning films, from Jude, to Welcome to Sarajevo, through to Wonderland, Twenty-Four-Hour Party People, In This World and, more recently, 9 Songs.

For me, this is one of the greatest TV-drama series' of the last decade... as essential and rewarding as the likes of Pennies From Heaven, The Decalogue, The Singing Detective and Twin Peaks (only much less convoluted than those classics) and, is a testament, along with Hillsborough and The Lakes, to the writing talents of Jimmy McGovern. Some would argue that the series went downhill after his departure, with Abbot's episodes, Best Boys and True Romance, often featuring fairly low on fan's "top-ten" episode polls, though I think this has more to do with the mammoth task of returning to something low-key after the escalating melodrama of To Be A Somebody, Men Should Weep and Brotherly Love (...as it happens, I'm quite fond of Best Boys... particularly the astonishing performance work of John Simm and Liam Cunningham in the central roles).

Although it has no extra-features, this DVD box set is still a must-have purchase, with Cracker still seeming as intelligent, interesting and emotionally affecting ten-years on, as it no doubt seemed when first broadcast over a decade ago.

British Criminal Drama at its best.......2007-03-08

If you are like me then you grew up with Robbie C in the Young Ones and the Comic Strip - right? Could you ever have imagined him less than a decade later playing a tough but compromised psychologist drawn into Manchester's crime world through results and building reputation?
No of course not.

This is what Robbie Coltrane does so well; building the character (possibly with Jimmy Mc's help of course) into the story line and seeing strong development as the series progressed. His character acting is simply inspired.

Stories are typical Mr McGovern, strong, powerful and ever-so-slightly unbelievable with characters to match.

Very powerful, excellent British crime drama. Do they write like this anymore? With the exception of the McGovern Cracker episode penned and aired a year or so ago (included here) and possibly the last of the Prime Suspect films, probably not. Turn off your reality TV stuff and plug into this. When you are done with all Cracker, go get Prime Suspect and do the same again; More strong stories, charatcers and early 90's fashions/cars/mobile phones.

....If, on the other hand you know Robbie Coltrane best as a huge bearded school caretaker with a passion for owls and spiders... well you are either too young to watch Fitz or you are old enough to have kids of your own... :)

Highly, highly recommended.

British drama at it's best.......2007-02-07

I can remember when cracker was on TV and was highly praised. I didn't see any episodes at the time but was bought this box set for christmas. It's about a brilliant criminal psychologist with a flawed personality called Fitz (played brilliantly by Robbie Coltrane) who works for the Manchester police. It deserves all the praise it received at the time. The most famous and best episode in the box set is "To be a somebody". The only weak episodes are "best boys" and "white ghost" but despite that cracker remains one of the best british dramas ever.

Cracker.......2006-12-30

Our hero here is a fat, sweaty, womanising, gambling alcoholic. The setting is slate-grey dreary, gritty Manchester. The subject matter is murder and rape, race and kidnap. Yet is it uplifting to watch because the quality of the series, particularly in the early episodes is so delightfully rare.

The episodes are `why dunnits' rather then `who dunnits' and it is Fitz, played brilliantly by Robbie Coltrane is a genius psychologist with a rare gift to unravel a criminal mind, that plays them out. From the start of the series, when we watch him give a lecture and throw books at students, it is clear he is a magnetic character. What makes him so likable is his brutal honesty and his inability to conform.

However, it is the whole package that makes `Cracker' so essential. The scripts, Jimmy McGovern are superb. He is a national treasure.

There is also the strength of the supporting cast. In particular, I liked the characters of Jane `Panhandle' Penhaligan, and DCI Bilborough, (Christopher Eccleston in one of his finest roles) and the unhinged D.S Jimmy Beck.

The greatest episodes are when these characters are involved and when McGovern writes. These episodes in themselves warrant the highest mark possible for this collection. The quality tails off slightly after this but the series is always engrossing.

This box set does not offer any extras, but I doubt that many people will care. This is simply British drama at its finest, and essential viewing.

Cracker - The Complete Collection [1993]

Average customer rating:

Cracker is a real cracker!
Disappointed!
GREAT VALUE FOR SOME SUPERB VIEWING
Intelligent Britcop Drama
Poor Quality from supplier

Cracker - The Complete Collection [1993]
Starring: Ian Mercer , and Amelia Bullmore
Director: Michael Winterbottom , Jean Stewart (III) , Charles McDougall , Julian Jarrold , and Simon Cellan Jones
Manufacturer: Cinema Club
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

All Crime, Thrillers & Mystery | Crime, Thrillers & Mystery | Categories | DVD | Video

All Television | Television | Categories | DVD | Video

Mystery & Detectives | Television | Categories | DVD | Video

DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video

Box Set | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00008YNE6
Release Date: 2003-05-12

Amazon.co.uk Review

First screened in 1993, Jimmy McGovern's Cracker was at once a variation on a familiar theme and a daring new departure from the run-of-the-mill cop show. Robbie Coltrane's Fitz is an independent criminal psychologist called in by the police to help them crack intractable cases, usually involving grisly serial murders. But like its Granada TV stablemate Prime Suspect, Cracker also delves deep into the main characters' personal lives, revealing a chaos of emotional entanglements that become increasingly inseparable from their professional duties.

Robbie Coltrane's charismatic presence dominates: the contrast between Fitz's professionalism and his complete inability to diagnose his own psychological failings provides much of the show's dramatic impetus. His frequent interrogations of murder suspects are tour de force demonstrations of coolly analytical method shot through with biting humour. But his drunken, intemperate behaviour towards his wife and everyone else is a telling contrast of extremes, and one that creates dangerous resentment among his colleagues. Coltrane is supported by a strong cast that includes Barbara Flynn, Geraldine Somerville, Lorcan Cranitch (as the terrifyingly unstable DS Jimmy Beck), Christopher Eccleston, and a pre-Royle Family Ricky Tomlinson. McGovern's screenplays balance gritty, Manchester-based realism with splendidly mordant wit, making Cracker simply riveting viewing.

On the DVD: This complete Cracker 10-disc box set contains all three series that ran from 1993-95. The feature-length episodes are: "The Mad Woman in the Attic", "Say I Love You", "One Day a Lemming Will Fly" (Series 1); "Be a Somebody", "The Big Crunch", "Men Should Weep" (Series 2); "Brotherly Love", "Best Boys", "True Romance" (Series 3); "White Ghost" (1996 special). --Mark Walker

Customer Reviews:

Cracker is a real cracker!.......2005-05-16

Basically the most imaginative tv cop drama you're ever likely to see, great cast ,script etc. DVD is sadly lacking in extras, for some reason there is only music on the first episode, which was great. Apparently they might film some more...

Disappointed!.......2005-03-04

I've been waiting to be able to afford this box set for a long time. Having bought it, I was so disappointed because the picture quality is grainy and poor. My advice is to tape the ITV3 version! Obviously the content is beyond criticism, but sadly the DVD isn't.

GREAT VALUE FOR SOME SUPERB VIEWING.......2004-12-12

Having missed this when it was shown on the telly as I lived abroad I thought I would bite the bullet and take a chance and buy the whole lot on an assumption that I thought I would like it. Well I absolutely love it, Robbie Coltrane is amazing and it`s a shame he hasn`t made more. I have only watched the first 5 episodes in sequence and find myself falling in love with Fitz and at the same time wishing I had his job. I almost don`t want to watch the rest as I don`t want them to end. Christopher Eccleston was also amazing and I was shocked at his exit. This is brit drama as it`s best, Cracker is a hero as Tennison is a heroine. Superb one liners mixed with suspense, hilarious blasphemy and shocks takes you out of your everyday life for an hour or two, and I am sure everyone can identify with a part of Fitz` life. Jimmy Mcgovern is a god.

Intelligent Britcop Drama.......2004-08-05

The great strengths of this series are Jimmy McGovern's gripping, intelligent scripts and the terrific performances, notably from Robbie Coltrane as Fitz, and Lorcan Cranitch as the increasingly unhinged Jimmy Beck.

The only weakness of Cracker is the occasional lapse of plausibility. Like most people, I've no experience of how a real murder investigation is conducted. But if I had to guess I'd say that Prime Suspect has it about right. Helen Mirren's Jane Tennison conducts her investigations methodically and meticulously. In Cracker, the detectives are so reliant upon Fitz's brilliant flashes of insight and clever psycho-interrogations, you wonder how they ever solved a crime without him. He's like Sherlock Holmes, Sigmund Freud and Columbo all rolled into one and stuffed into a wrinkled suit. It's great fun to watch, but you have to suspend your disbelief at times.

It takes a while for the series to get going (the script of the first story is too "writerly" in my opinion), and the stories lose a crucial edge, I think, after the departure of Lorcan Cranitch. But at its peak, in "To Be a Somebody" and "Men Should Weep", this is about as good as British TV drama gets.

Poor Quality from supplier.......2004-03-20

As fans of cracker, i'm disappointed to advise that the quality of DVD's in the box set is not up to scratch. The first set was received before christmas, only to find on opening that one of the DVD's was missing. On playing the 2nd DVD from the set, it stopped half way though. Having received a replacement over 2 weeks later, we have got upto DVD 7 "Brotherly Love" only to find that this also stops after 2 hours, and am again having to request a replacement.

Cracker itself is brilliant, its just that the manufacturing is cheap, and for £50+ I would expect DVD's that actually played.

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