"Wire in the Blood" (2002) TV series 2002-????

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | unknown

Release Date:

20 August 2002 (Denmark)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Enter the mind of a serial killer.

Plot Keywords:

Team | Serial Killer | Investigation | Police | Murder

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Robson Green	...	Dr. Tony Hill (25 episodes, 2002-2008)
Mark Letheren	...	DS Kevin Geoffries / ... (23 episodes, 2002-2008)
Mark Penfold	...	Dr. Ashley Vernon (19 episodes, 2002-2007)
Emma Handy	...	DC Paula McIntyre / ... (18 episodes, 2003-2008)
Hermione Norris	...	DCI Carol Jordan (14 episodes, 2002-2005)
Simone Lahbib	...	DI Alex Fielding / ... (11 episodes, 2006-2008)

Also Known As:

La fureur dans le sang (Belgium: French title) (France) (Switzerland: French title) [fr]
Fureur dans le sang (Canada: French title) [fr]
Hautnah - Die Methode Hill (Germany) [de]
Loodud tapjaks (Estonia) [et]
Mord i sinnet (Sweden) [sv]
Murha mielessä (Finland) [fi]
Plumb din sînge (Romania) [ro]
Raseri i blodet (Denmark) [da]
Rastros da Maldade (Brazil) (cable TV title) [pt]

Runtime:

50 min (6 episodes) | 69 min (8 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M (some episodes) | Australia:MA (DVD rating)

Company:

Coastal Productions

Trivia:

The plastic "blue bag" that Tony Hill is often seen with was gleaned from Robson Green's research for Wire in the Blood, which involved spending time with revered criminal psychologist Julian Boon, who Green describes in part as an "extraordinary, intelligent, nice guy who carried his life in a blue bag and travelled on a double-decker bus. No-one looked at him twice."

Quotes:

Dr. Tony Hill: A cartoon? That's an odd choice.
DC Paula McIntyre: What's odd about it? If you show violence on TV it promotes violence.
Dr. Tony Hill: Oh yeah? What shows did Jack the Ripper watch?

Regarding the title

The title "Wire in the Blood" is a phrase from T.S. Eliot's poem "Burnt Norton", which is the first of his "Four Quartets": "The trilling wire in the blood/Sings below inveterate scars/Appeasing long forgotten wars." The poem is at least in part about the relationship between the longing for spiritual peace and "the release from action and suffering"; it touches on these ideas as part of a Christian and also a Buddhist world view. I haven't read the books that the series is based on, so I cannot say how the author originally put the title in context (if at all.)

The phrases that follow "wire in the blood" in the poem are significant to the title's meaning for this show, I think, with the invocation of scarring, forgetting and violence.