Touching Evil 2 (1998)

If this were a book, it would be a "page turner".

Once you start, you can't stop watching.

I watched the USA Network version of Touching Evil before I knew the BBC version ever existed. I enjoyed USA's Touching Evil greatly. But the BBC version is phenomenal. I'm hooked. 5 stars. August 2, 2005

great second season

Since I'm a fan of misteries and detective series, I got the first box of this serie and I loved so much that I got the second and third seasons as fast as I could. This box (second season) is just great as the first, with Detective Inspector Dave Creegan (Robson Green) amazing you again and again. I'm also a great fan of Robson Green and he is fabulous in this character. A great buy. August 2, 2005

Wonderful, tense

It isn't often in the US that we get the kind of quality that is usual on the BBC, ITV or other independent productions. The British seem to care more about their productions than we do.

I have all 3 seasons of TE. Each episode makes me wonder how writers could come up with such orignial scripts. The scripts are personal, as though the writers asked themselves what they would do if they were in the same position.

Robson Green is fantastic as the tortured Dave Creegan. He is in a difficult position. After being shot in the head and chest he has to take medical leave, which includs psychiatric leave. It distroys his family. Now his ex-wife is living with a man who has no problem with Dave coming or going in the house or sleeping on the couch. Dave's "X" gets pregnant and doesn't want the child. It's obvious, she wishes it were Dave's not Barry's. Oddly enough it brings the two men closer.

This is a very emotinal show as the watcher wonders how Creegan will deal with the next case and when will Creegan and Taylor fall in love, but they never do. It's a friendship. Creegan is still in love with his "X".

It's very difficult to explain the feeling this show brings to the viewer. When I first started watching the series, I was numb by the guality of the programming and the abilities of the actors.

Green as Creegan brings a wonderful presence to the character. Creegan stands out as emotional, volitile and yet shy man. Nicole Walker as his partner Susan Taylor, is awed and yet scared by Creegan's edgy personality. Michael Feast as ACC Enwright works hard to rein in Creegan's emotionality and sometimes fails. The rest of the cast, up until Series 3, just follow in Green's and Creegan's footsteps.

This review was supposed to be about Series 2, but all 3 of the of the series hold their "own". I couldn't tell you which I prefered, but I do recommend all of them.

September 17, 2004

The second go-around is less satisfying, but still solid.

What is it about Robson Green that makes him so compelling? Is it his piercing blue eyes, or the sense that, no matter how inscrutable his expression, there's so much more going on inside his head that we're not privy to? Green is in no way what one might consider a Hollywood-type leading man--he appears small, his hairline is receding, and he's not conventionally handsome--but the man commands the screen like nobody's business.

I found "Touching Evil" to be a fantastic series, so when "TE 2" became available, I grabbed it. Unfortunately, it took me some time to watch all the episodes. Perhaps this was because I was so impressed with the first series that I had high expectations. Maybe it was "sophomore slump." Ah, it was probably that the story arc of the first series was just plain more interesting. It is often the case that when the original creators of a series relinquish creative control to others, the quality suffers. This is also true of "TE 2," which sometimes seems like a pale reflection of the original. What it still has going for it, however, is the characters. I very much appreciate the circularity of the stories, bringing characters--like Creegan's wife and kids--in and out of the story at various points throughout the series. Shaun Dingwall alternately impresses and annoys with his portrayal of the unsteady DI Rivers, and Nicola Walker--another unconventional look but undeniably powerful--just knocks my socks off when she takes Creegan to task every so often. Maybe that's the key to why I enjoy the world of "Touching Evil" so much: It feels like family.

And although I would love to see Robson Green in more visible projects, I sort of hope Hollywood never finds out about him. They just wouldn't know what to do with him. September 3, 2003

Superb Mystery

Hollywood should go after Robson Greene. He is a star in the truest sense. I have seen several of his British movies and he has an on-screen presence that should be nurtured for American audiences. The Touching Evil series is as good as it gets in mystery series. The emotions are enhanced by great acting and thought provoking story lines. I can only hope the BBC keeps sending them our way. March 4, 2002

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