Waking the Dead (TV series)

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Waking the Dead
Image:Wakingthedeadtitle.png Series logo
Format	Police Procedural
Created by	Barbara Machin
Starring	Trevor Eve Sue Johnston Tara Fitzgerald Wil Johnson Félicité Du Jeu
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	31 (as of 19 February, 2007)
Production
Running time	approx. 1 hour (per part)
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC One
Original run	September 4, 2000 – present
External links
Official website
IMDb profile

Waking the Dead is a British television crime drama series produced by the BBC featuring a team of CID police officers, a psychological profiler and a forensic scientist. A pilot episode was transmitted in September 2000 and there have been a total of six series, with the latest concluding in February 2007. 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 is also shown on BBC America in the United States as well as the Nine Network in Australia, though the BBC America showings are edited to allow for more commercials. Older series are occasionally shown on public television stations in the United States. A seventh series concluded filming in November for Spring 2008 broadcast.^[1]

Contents 1 Plot 2 Characters 2.1 Main characters 2.2 Former characters 3 Serials 3.1 Pilot (2000) 3.2 Series 1 (2001) 3.3 Series 2 (2002) 3.4 Series 3 (2003) 3.5 Series 4 (2004) 3.6 Series 5 (2005) 3.7 Series 6 (2007) 4 Reception 5 DVD releases 6 Notes and references 7 External links

[edit] Plot

The programme follows 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 modern technology to examine previous evidence. Trevor Eve portrays the workaholic and often eccentric Peter Boyd around whom plotlines are often centered. 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").

[edit] Characters

[edit] Main characters

• Detective Superintendent Peter Boyd (Trevor Eve) — 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 CCU stems from the unexplained disappearance of his young son in the 1990s.^[2] Though sometimes appearing detached, Boyd is close to his team, particularly Mel Silver, whose death still haunts him two years later. He mentioned in series 1 he was married but no explanation to what happened. 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.

• Psychological profiler Dr. Grace Foley (Sue Johnston) — Grace has nearly 30 years experience in her field, originally entering the force as forensic profiler. Her presence on the Unit provides a rational counter to Boyd's dogmatic and somewhat unorthodox methods but she enjoys a close working relationship with him, often engaging in witty banter with him. In the pilot she says that "she has kids to go home to", but in the resulting series it's clear that she never married and does not have children. In series 5 it is revealed that she fell in love with the married officer in charge of her first case and fell pregnant. He later died in a car crash, with the result that Grace had an abortion.

• Detective Inspector Spencer Jordan (Wil Johnson) — 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 Constabulary. 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.

• Detective Sergeant Stella Goodman (Félicité du Jeu, 2005 – present) — Stella joined the CCU 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" when it was revealed she had been (unwittingly) sending information on the Unit to her godfather. By the beginning of "Wren Boys", the team's confidence in her seemed to be fully restored.

• Forensic Pathologist Eve Lockhart (Tara Fitzgerald, 2007) — Eve took over the lab from Felix and was already firmly entrenched in her work at the beginning of "Wren Boys", her first episode. Eve's career has allowed her to accumulate a body farm bringing a unique approach to her work.

[edit] Former characters

• Detective Sergeant Amelia "Mel" Silver^[3] (Claire Goose, 2000 – 2004) — Much like Grace, Mel freely questions Boyd if she believes he is looking in the wrong direction in a case. She was close to everyone on the team, especially Frankie. She was killed in "Shadowplay" and 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'.

• Forensic pathologist and scientist Frankie Wharton (Holly Aird, 2000 – 2004) — Frankie took a conscientious approach to her job and was good friends with Mel. After Mel's death, Frankie left the CCU to return to research. Actress Holly Aird left the programme due to her pregnancy.

• Forensic pathologist and scientist Felix Gibson (Esther Hall, 2005) — Felix took over the lab after Frankie's departure and, like her predecessor, would leave the office to join her colleagues in the field. She was an employee of the Home Office, and 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 Sergeant Andrea Stephenson (Georgia Mackenzie, 2005) — Appeared in "Towers of Silence". She was drafted into the unit from Kent CID because she had previously investigated a case linked to the one the team reopened in that story.

[edit] Serials

[edit] Pilot (2000)

#	Title	Writer	Original airdate
1	"Waking the Dead"	Barbara Machin	4 September – 5 September 2000

[edit] Series 1 (2001)

#	Title	Writer	Original airdate
2	"Burn Out"	Peter Jukes	18 June – 19 June 2001
3	"The Blind Beggar"	John Milne	25 June – 26 June 2001
4	"A Simple Sacrifice"	Simon Mirren	2 July – 3 July 2001
5	"Every Breath You Take"	Barbara Machin	9 July – 10 July 2001

[edit] Series 2 (2002)

#	Title	Writer	Original airdate
6	"Life Sentence"	John Milne	2 September – 3 September 2002
7	"Deathwatch"	Stephen Davis	9 September – 10 September 2002
8	"Special Relationship"	Simon Mirren	16 September – 17 September 2002
9	"Thin Air"	Ed Whitmore	3 November – 4 November 2002

[edit] Series 3 (2003)

#	Title	Writer	Original airdate
10	"Multistorey"	Ed Whitmore	14 September – 15 September 2003
11	"Walking on Water"	Simon Mirren	21 September – 22 September 2003
12	"Breaking Glass"	Stephen Davis	28 September – 29 September 2003
13	"Final Cut"	Stephen Davis	5 October – 6 October 2003

[edit] Series 4 (2004)

#	Title	Writer	Original airdate
14	"In Sight of the Lord"	Tony McHale	11 July – 12 July 2004
15	"False Flag"	Stephen Davis	18 July – 19 July 2004
16	"Fugue States"	Ed Whitmore	25 July – 26 July 2004
17	"Anger Management"	John Mile & Andy Hay	1 August – 2 August 2004
18	"The Hardest Word"	Doug Milburn	8 August – 9 August 2004
19	"Shadowplay"	Ed Whitmore	15 August – 16 August 2004

[edit] Series 5 (2005)

#	Title	Writer	Original airdate
20	"Towers of Silence"	Joe Cozens	18 September – 19 September 2005
21	"Black Run"	Raymond Khoury	25 September – 26 September 2005
22	"Subterraneans"	Ed Whitmore	2 October – 3 October 2005
23	"Straw Dog"	Declan Croghan	9 October – 10 October 2005
24	"Undertow"	Oliver Browns	16 October – 17 October 2005
25	"Cold Fusion"	Ed Whitmore	23 October – 24 October 2005

[edit] Series 6 (2007)

#	Title	Writer	Original airdate
26	"Wren Boys"	Declan Croghan	7 January – 8 January 2007
27	"Deus Ex Machina"	Nicholas Blincoe	14 January – 15 January 2007
28	"The Fall"	Damian Wayling	21 January – 22 January 2007
29	"Mask of Sanity"	Laurence Davy & Declan Croghan	28 January – 29 January 2007
30	"Double Blind"	Richard Warlow	4 February – 5 February 2007
31	"Yahrzeit"	Declan Croghan	18 February – 19 February 2007

[edit] Reception

The first series secured strong ratings, with "Burn Out, part 1" receiving 8.4m viewers and a 38% share.^[4] 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.^[5] The second part dropped to 8.6m but still gained a 33% share.^[6]

Following the successful transmission of the third series and an International Emmy Award nomination, a further two series were commissioned with the episode numbers expanded from four to six.^[7] Waking the Dead won an International Emmy Award the following year for "Multistorey" written by Ed Whitmore and directed by Bob Bierman.^[8]

[edit] DVD releases

The first five series have been released on region 2 by 2 entertain Ltd under the BBC DVD banner. Region 1 is distributed by BBC Video and region 4 by Roadshow.

DVD name	Release dates
	Region 2	Region 1	Region 4
The Complete Series One & Pilot	September 12 2005	October 24 2006	March 2 2006
The Complete Series Two	June 26 2006	October 16 2007	TBA
The Complete Series Three	September 25 2006	TBA	TBA
The Complete Series Four	January 29 2007	TBA	TBA
The Complete Series Five	September 10 2007	TBA	TBA
The Complete Series Six	TBA	TBA	TBA

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

• Waking the Dead at bbc.co.uk
• Waking the Dead at the Internet Movie Database
• "Shadowplay" shooting script at BBC Writers Roomde:Waking the Dead – Im Auftrag der Toten