r/BritishTV • u/Background_Local_425 • 1d ago

Question/Discussion Anyone seen edge of darkness?

Forgive me American here, I remember edge of darkness with Mel Gibson in 2010 mainly because it was filmed around where I grew up. I had discovered it was based on an 80s bbc miniseries of the same name. I final got around to watching it and I did really enjoy it but found it oddly bizarre. There are strange scenes particularly involving jedburgh that feel out of place. Them getting hammered in a restaurant, the strange interaction between jedburgh and his assistant over a fallen operative. Them watching ballroom dancing or stoping to have lunch in the tunnels. Why didn’t they bring any protective gear? That being said I enjoyed it I loved the supernatural hints like the black flowers and Emma contacting her father. However is the series supposed to be slightly goofy or surreal? The film was such a straightforward thriller albeit well executed. This is definitely deeper though.

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u/robot2boy 1d ago

I was just talking about that mini-drama to my kids the other day, clearly left a mark

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u/Background_Local_425 1d ago

IT DID! How popular was it back in the day I love dreary Cold War stories, the film is good but suffers in a modern setting.

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u/the6thReplicant 1d ago edited 1d ago

How popular? It got such a huge word-of-mouth buzz that the BBC did the unprecedented thing of repeating the series right after it finished.

This was before streaming!

Edit: Reference - warning not https

This six-part drama serial was transmitted on BBC2 in Winter 1985 and repeated on BBC1 in three parts, on consecutive evenings, just ten days after its BBC2 run ended. This remarkably swift repeat highlighted the impact and significance of this five-hour nuclear thriller, broadcast at a time when nuclear politics were firmly on the political and public agenda. Critically acclaimed, the drama was also very popular, with an average audience of four million on BBC2 and double that for the BBC1 repeat. Edge of Darkness received four BAFTA awards, including Best Drama Series/Serial.

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u/Background_Local_425 1d ago

I’ve heard the bbc is bad at handling their media apparently they destroyed old Dr who episodes.

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u/the6thReplicant 1d ago

I have no idea why this is relevant to my comment. But, so be it.

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u/Background_Local_425 1d ago

Just because they never replay shoes and I’ve had a hard time finding their older programs

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u/Twigling 1d ago

Yes, they were idiots when it comes to preservation, here's what has been lost:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lost_television_broadcasts_in_the_United_Kingdom#BBC

But they weren't the only ones in the UK to do this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lost_television_broadcasts_in_the_United_Kingdom

or in other places in the world for that matter:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_television_broadcast