Thorne (TV series)

Thorne
Starring David Morrissey
Eddie Marsan
Aidan Gillen
Natascha McElhone
Sandra Oh
O-T Fagbenle
Country of origin United Kingdom
Canada
No. of series 1
No. of episodes 6
Production
Executive producer(s) David Morrissey
Running time 60mins (inc. adverts)
Release
Original network Sky1
Original release 10 October (2010-10-10) – 14 November 2010 (2010-11-14)

Thorne, a television drama series which debuted on Sky1 in the UK on 10 October 2010, is based on crime writer Mark Billingham's novels.[1] The series stars David Morrissey in the title role of Detective Inspector Tom Thorne, and includes Aidan Gillen, Eddie Marsan, and Natascha McElhone as supporting cast members.

Production

As well as the lead role of the series, Morrissey is executive producer. He describes how he became involved as follows:

I was doing a film in New Zealand, on my own, in winter. I really needed a book. I stumbled across a Thorne novel, liked it, and then I looked up Mark online and found a question-and-answer session where he said that if his books ever made it to the screen, he’d like David Morrissey to play the lead. I thought, "That’s a good start".[2]

The series of six episodes comprised two, three-part, dramatizations of the first two Thorne novels. In the first three-parter, Sleepyhead, Thorne has to track down and stop a serial killer who aims to leave his victims alive but unable to communicate because of locked-in syndrome. The second is Scaredy Cat, which features two serial killers apparently working in tandem.

The makers of the series stated in 2010 a desire to eventually film all ten Thorne novels.[2] In February 2011, David Morrissey stated that he was set to star in and produce another series of Thorne.[3] However, in his Christmas 2012 newsletter, Thorne author Mark Billingham stated that Morrissey's success in The Walking Dead has suspended plans for a further Thorne novels to be serialized.[4] As of 2015, no other comments have been made about a possible second series.

Adaptation

As with other TV/film adaptations, there are many differences between the books and the television series. In the books, Brigstocke is a man (Russell Brigstocke); Dave Holland is not black; and Phil Hendricks is a tall, bald, heavily pierced, heavily tattooed Mancunian, not a short, partly tattooed Irishman with a full head of hair.

Structure

The first three episodes were known as Thorne: Sleepyhead and the latter three episodes were under the banner Thorne: Scaredy Cat.

Cast

Main cast

Sleepyhead

Scaredy Cat

Episodes

No. Title Director Writer Original air date
1"Sleepyhead, Episode 1"Stephen HopkinsDudi Appleton, Jim Keeble10 October 2010 (2010-10-10)
Three women are found murdered, their killer having induced them into having strokes. A fourth victim is still alive, and might be able to identify her assailant, except that she cannot communicate as she has been left with locked-in syndrome. Investigating, DI Tom Thorne concludes that it was the killer's intention to leave his victims incapacitated, not dead.
2"Sleepyhead, Episode 2"Stephen HopkinsDudi Appleton, Jim Keeble17 October 2010 (2010-10-17)
Thorne is forced to conduct his investigation alone when Tughan dismisses his "locked-in" theory. He and Anne Coburn try to help Alison Willetts communicate. A woman who claims to have escaped the killer is attacked.
3"Sleepyhead, Episode 3"Stephen HopkinsDudi Appleton, Jim Keeble24 October 2010 (2010-10-24)
Tughan identifies pathologist Phil Hendricks as his prime suspect, and seems determined to expose the dark secret that binds him to Thorne. Anne's daughter Rachel unwittingly puts herself in danger.
4"Scaredy Cat, Episode 1"Benjamin RossDudi Appleton, Jim Keeble31 October 2010 (2010-10-31)
Two women have been murdered simultaneously near St Pancras station, but in quite different ways. When the connection is made with two other murders, months before but on the same day, DI Thorne realises that two serial killers are at work in a macabre partnership.
5"Scaredy Cat, Episode 2"Benjamin RossDudi Appleton, Jim Keeble7 November 2010 (2010-11-07)
One of the killers is caught after a failed attempt on the life of the son of another victim. He confesses to his crimes, but refuses to identify his partner. Thorne decides to free him in an attempt to force the other killer to come forward.
6"Scaredy Cat, Episode 3"Benjamin RossDudi Appleton, Jim Keeble14 November 2010 (2010-11-14)
Palmer escapes from police custody and he and Nicklin resume their series of murders. DS Chen, desperate to prove herself, risks everything to catch the pair.

British Film Institute preview

The first three episodes of the series, comprising a dramatization of Billingham's first Thorne novel Sleepyhead, directed by Stephen Hopkins, were previewed at the BFI Southbank in London on 4 October 2010. This was followed by a Q&A session featuring writer Mark Billingham and actors David Morrissey and Eddie Marsan.[5]

Reception

Running on a Sunday evening in the prime 2100 slot on satellite against strong terrestrial competition from the popular Julian Fellowes' period drama series Downton Abbey, the first episode of four-part drama Single Father starring David Tennant, and a reshowing of the Dan Brown thriller The Da Vinci Code, the show drew 402,000 viewers and 1.5% audience share, according to preliminary BARB figures.[6]

Reviews have been positive, and currently holds a score of 74/100, on aggregate review site Metacritic. In a television review in The Independent on Monday 11 October 2010, after the first episode was broadcast, Tom Sutcliffe wrote approvingly, particularly of the direction of Stephen Hopkins, "who keeps using his camera to catch Thorne from incriminating angles, as if he's a perpetrator not a policeman", and the performances of Morrissey and McElhone.[7] In The Scotsman, Andrea Mullaney praised the efforts made by BSkyB in the production and casting but added "But it's a shame that our best actors can't be used for anything more radical or real."[8] Adam Sweeting at the independent online arts magazine The Arts Desk wrote "Despite the hype it's just another cop show full of corpses, but Morrissey feels authentic as the phlegmatic, low-key Thorne", but criticised the romantic link between Morrissey and McElhone: "It was like Vinnie Jones getting off with Joanna Lumley".[9]

U.S. airing

On 10 May 2012, Encore issued a press release announcing that the network would air Thorne: Sleepyhead and Thorne: Scaredy Cat on 12 June 2012 and 13 June 2012, respectively.[10]

Release

Both Sleepyhead and Scaredycat were released together on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on 10 January 2011. You can see all the episodes, "Sleepy Head" and "Scaredy Cat", on Netflix, USA. Reviews state that the quality of the show on DVD and Blu-ray were 'great'.

References

  1. ↑ The Guardian, 9 October 2010, The weekend's TV highlights
  2. 1 2 Ed Cumming, 8 October 2010, The Daily Telegraph, David Morrissey on Thorne: a British copper, in a US style
  3. ↑ BBC, 4 February 2011, South Riding – David Morrissey is Robert Carne
  4. ↑ "Mark Billingham's Newsletter". December 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  5. ↑ BFI, 4 October 2010, TV preview: thorne: sleepyhead + Q&A
  6. ↑ The Guardian, 11 October 2010, TV ratings
  7. ↑ Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent, 11 October 2010, The Weekend's TV
  8. ↑ Andrea Murray, The Scotsman, 12 October 2010, TV review: Thorne: Sleepyhead
  9. ↑ Adam Sweeting, The Arts Desk, 11 October 2010, Single Father, BBC One/ Thorne: Sleepyhead, Sky1
  10. ↑ "Encore Press Release" (PDF). Encore. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
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