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Touching Evil (1997)

1997 · Crime,Drama,Mystery · crime-psychological-profiler, crime-procedural

Touching Evil poster

Touching Evil is a British psychological crime drama that uses the serial killer procedural form as a vehicle for exploring psychological damage — specifically, what happens to detectives who immerse themselves in evil. Starring Robson Green as DI Dave Creegan, a returning officer whose near-death experience has left him brilliant but unstable, the show is dark, atmospheric, and stylistically adventurous, with cinematography reviewers describe as sometimes bizarre and sometimes stunning. The focus is less on puzzle-solving than on the psychological cost of the work, making it closer in spirit to Cracker than to Inspector Morse. Series 1 and 2 are widely considered strong; Series 3 is seen as a decline.

From the reviewers

The title is apt, as its focus is less on the evil itself or the process of combating it, and more on the damage it does to those who touch and are touched by it. The protagonists grow harder, more detached, more despairing, and more absorbed by the horrors their occupation revolves around, and the grief of the victims is almost palpable.
The acting is stupendous, the characters intriguing, and the production brilliant. It's one of the finest crime dramas I've ever seen.
Not only is the plot heavily detailed and nuanced, it's quite hard to watch from a moral point of view (and it must have been even harder to act it). This is absolutely not a criticism. This show deals with some of the ugliest realities of our time.
The look of the series complements the subject matter and the acting, creating a dense and quite specific atmosphere in each scene. Some shots (especially when you least expect it) are quite stunning and even beautiful.
This show rocks in that the viewer is REQUIRED TO WORK to figure out the details of the backstory, relationships that existed before, and to hang onto a storyline that is not concerned with over-explaining; you need to keep up with the pace.

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