You'd expect a police show about a criminal psychologist to feature some deeply sensitive soul who, because of his deep insight into human nature, solves crimes while sitting in a book-lined office. Maybe that's how it would be if the show were set in Los Angeles or somewhere else removed from reality, but Manchester, England is a dirty, industrial city, far removed from the glamourous life of London, let alone California. No book-lined office dwelling toff is going to cut it in this city.
Enter Dr. Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald. He’s overbearing, opinionated, egocentric, with drinking and gambling problems suggesting a need for some serious psychological help, and a questionable faithfulness to his marriage bed. This makes him the most unlikely and unlovable of lead characters to grace television screens within recent memory. In spite of his foibles, or perhaps because of them, "Fitz" ruled TV screens in Britain as the lead character in the police drama, Cracker, from 1993-1995.
While Robbie Coltrane is best known now for his role as the loveable giant, Hagrid, in the Harry Potter series, he achieved close to iconic status for his performances in the lead role of Cracker. For three years he stalked the streets of Manchester helping the police solve brutal crime with a combination of bluster, intelligence, and sheer balls that was a beauty to behold. Along the way we'd also get to watch him play with fire in his personal relationships with his wife, children, and occasional lovers on the side.
For those of you who loved to hate (or hated to love) "Fitz" the first time round, and those who somehow missed out and want to see Robbie Coltrane in a completely different light, you're in luck. The Complete Cracker, from the good folk at the Arts & Entertainment Network, contains not only all three seasons (a total of nine discs), but it also includes the television movie A New Kind Of Terror, released ten years after the original show went off the air.
From the first moment we meet Dr. Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald, we know we're not going to be dealing with your standard police detective. While Manchester's finest are trying to figure out who has been butchering young women on British Rail, "Fitz" has been running up tabs at the bookies, overdrawing the bank accounts, and burning out the credit cards. At the opening of "Mad Woman In The Attic," he sunk so low as to try and hit up his eleven-year-old daughter for money to pay for a cab ride.
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