Lawless (British TV series)

Lawless
Genre	Crime drama
Written by	Chris Lang
Directed by	Roger Gartland
Starring	Trevor Eve Orla Brady David Calder Ralph Brown Dermot Crowley Darrell D'Silva
Composer	The Insects
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	2 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	George Faber Charles Pattinson George Palmer
Producer	Tom Grieves
Production locations	Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, UK
Cinematography	Mike Spragg
Editor	Jamie McCoan
Running time	90 minutes
Production company	Company Pictures
Original release
Network	ITV/STV/UTV
Release	8 November (2004-11-08) – 9 November 2004 (2004-11-09)

Lawless is a two-part British television thriller miniseries, first broadcast on ITV from 8 to 9 November 2004. Written by Chris Lang, directed by Roger Gartland and starring Trevor Eve, Orla Brady and David Calder, Lawless follows the story of DI John Paxton, who begins to question his job when a murderer walks free from court because of a legal technicality. The two-part miniseries was commissioned in 2003, along with another two-part miniseries written by Lang, Amnesia. The miniseries gathered good viewing figures, with the first part watched by 7.17 million, and the second by 5.65 million. Unlike Amnesia, the series has never been released on DVD.

Production

Trevor Eve said of his role in the series; "In one scene I had to drag myself out of the Tyne. They'd [the producers] selected a particularly filthy dockside for the purpose, so that wasn't particularly enjoyable. I have to say the novelty of stunts and things like that has gone for me. The driving, I like. I did a lot of the driving stunts myself and there's a lot of racing around Newcastle. But the jumping off the bridge – the stuntman did that one! The beard comes off in a vain attempt to not look like the person the police are looking for. I didn't really grow the beard for a part, but I did Troy last year and when I got back to the UK, I literally went straight on to set and they started to shave off the beard, but then realised that underneath my skin was white – whereas the rest of my face was quite tanned. So we decided to keep it rather than have to wear loads of make-up. I hate shaving anyway, so I'm glad it's proved a popular look."

Critical reception

The Express said of the series; "This is one of those dramas that has you gripped from the start. Outstanding. Trevor Eve was brilliant." The Daily Mail said; "Eve is one of the most mesmerising actors on television. You just can't take your eyes off him." The Telegraph said; "Nobody who saw the first episode of Lawless is likely to feel short changed, the pace, confidence and generally slick plotting make for an exciting watch." Radio Times said of the miniseries; "A strong cast, a tight script, a very watchable drama." The Sun also commented; "Trevor Eve projects are usually wonderful and this is no exception. A very watchable drama."

Cast

• Trevor Eve — DI John Paxton
• Orla Brady — DC Liz Bird
• David Calder — DCI Pete Chambers
• Ralph Brown — Phil Howell
• Dermot Crowley — Bob Allard
• Darrell D'Silva — Mark Easton
• Tracy Gillman — Amy Graves
• Paul Brennen — Jack Harris
• Jacqueline King — Kate Chambers
• Christopher Connel — Patrick Kinney
• Danielle Lydon — Louise Paxton

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (millions)
1	"Episode 1"	Roger Gartland	Chris Lang	8 November 2004 (2004-11-08)	7.17
A killer escapes justice on a technicality, and a senior police officer proposes that he and his colleagues take justice into their own hands. When the officer is murdered, the innocent DI John Paxton is blamed and goes on the run.
2	"Episode 2"	Roger Gartland	Chris Lang	9 November 2004 (2004-11-09)	5.65
DI John Paxton, implicated in the murder of his boss, is on the run, and trying to find the real killer, but Kinney, the only man who could help establish Paxton's innocence, has been drowned.

External links

• Lawless at IMDb