Dark Heart (TV series) - Wikipedia
- ️Wed Nov 09 2016
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| Dark Heart | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Crime drama |
| Based on | Will Wagstaffe series by Adam Creed |
| Written by |
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| Directed by | Colin Teague |
| Starring | |
| Composer | Dan Jones |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producers |
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| Cinematography | Sam McCurdy & Ed Moore |
| Editor | Phil Hookway |
| Running time |
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| Production company | Silverprint Pictures |
| Original release | |
| Network | |
| Release | 9 November 2016 – 15 November 2018 |
Dark Heart is a British television crime drama series, based on the Will Wagstaffe novels by writer Adam Creed, that first broadcast on 9 November 2016.[1] The series stars Tom Riley as DI Will Wagstaffe, a police detective haunted by the unsolved double murder of his parents when he was just sixteen years old.[2] A single feature-length pilot, based on the novel Suffer the Children, was written by Chris Lang and directed by Colin Teague. It first broadcast on ITV Encore on 9 November 2016.[3] The initial pilot co-stars Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Tom Brooke, Anjli Mohindra, Charlotte Riley and Miranda Raison.
Following strong audience reception, a series of six hour-long episodes was commissioned in December 2017, with filming taking place in Spring 2018. The series consists of four newly-written episodes alongside the pilot, which has been re-edited, with some scenes re-shot, to form the first two episodes of the series.[4] Lang returned to pen the four new episodes; including two which were co-written by Ben Harris. Teague returned as director.
Jason Maza, Michele Austin, Alex Carter and Gregg Chillin joined the cast following the departures of Brooke and Holdbrook-Smith, who was unable to return to the series because of other filming commitments. Due to the closure of ITV Encore in March 2018, the series transmitted on ITV, alongside a number of other projects originally set for broadcast on Encore.[5] The series began broadcasting on 31 October 2018, with episodes shown on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9:00 pm.
Tom Riley stated the intention of the pilot being re-shot to become the first two episodes of the series was to remove elements of violence and torture suited more to a "cable audience", and commented "we got the chance to look at it again to see what worked and what didn't work, or which way we wanted it to go. You don't really get that option. It was strange to go back, but at the same time, a luxury that you don't normally get."[6]
Notable edits made include close-up shots of a murder victim's face being removed during a scene where his testicles are shown to have been inserted into his eyesockets; scenes involving dialogue between Staffe and Josie (Anjli Mohindra) where she is seen to "admire" him being removed; and several scenes involving Staffe and Sylvie (Miranda Raison), including having dinner and making love, being entirely re-shot. Notably, the "blurry" close-up filming style used in the pilot is also toned down for the remainder of the series, following negative feedback from viewers.
Production filmed scenes at one of the beach chalets on Shellness Beach, Kent and also filmed a drone shot of a car travelling along Shellness Road, Kent.[7]
The rebroadcasting of the pilot prompted an article in the Daily Express, detailing complaints from several viewers, who claimed that ITV's failure to bill the first two episodes as a repeat were "misleading".[8]
Those who were unaware that the first two episodes were a recut of the pilot noted a considerable unexplained change come episode three, with a number of new cast members (Jason Maza, Michele Austin, Alex Carter and Gregg Chillin) appearing without explanation, and the unexplained aging of Will's nephew Harry (Joseph Teague), who appears to be of primary school age in the pilot, but suddenly looks considerably older and is seen to be attending high school.[9]
- Tom Riley as Will "Staffe" Wagstaffe; Detective Inspector
- Anjli Mohindra as Josie Chancellor; Detective Constable
- Kobna Holdbrook-Smith as Dave Pulford; Detective Sergeant (Episodes 1—2)
- Tom Brooke as Rick Johnson; Detective Sergeant (Episodes 1—2)
- Jason Maza as Rob Mullan; Detective Sergeant (Episodes 3—6)
- Michele Austin as Annie Webb; Detective Constable (Episodes 3—6)
- Alex Carter as Ray Monk; Detective Constable (Episodes 3—6)
- Gregg Chillin as Luke Paul; forensic pathologist (Episodes 3—6)
- Charlotte Riley as Juliette Wagstaffe; Staffe's elder sister
- Miranda Raison as Sylvie; Staffe's girlfriend
- Joseph Teague as Harry Wagstaffe; Staffe's nephew
- Jonathan Harden as Grant Balden
- Edward Akrout as Paulo; Juliette's fiancé[10]
- Christopher Fulford as Bob Jessop; ex-Detective Inspector (Episodes 1—2)
- ^ "ITV Media – Dark Heart". Itvmedia.co.uk. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
- ^ "Tom Riley stars in brand new ITV Encore crime thriller Dark Heart". Itv.com. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
- ^ "New ITV Encore drama Dark Heart is 'brutal' says its star Tom Riley". Whatsontv.com. 6 November 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
- ^ Morgan Jeffery (23 October 2018). "How ITV's Dark Heart evolved from a 2016 pilot episode to the revamped new series". Digital Spy.
- ^ "ITV recommissions crime thriller Dark Heart starring Tom Riley". Itv.com. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
- ^ Rory O'Connor (7 November 2018). "Dark Heart: 'It's less gruesome': Star spills all on CUT scenes". Express.
- ^ Kent Film Office. "Kent Film Office Dark Heart Article".
- ^ Callum Crumlish (31 October 2018). "Dark Heart: Fans in UPROAR as they claim show is a repeat". Express.
- ^ Justin Harp (7 November 2018). "Dark Heart viewers notice something's a bit off with this week's episode". Digital Spy.
- ^ "Dark Heart" Episode #1.4 (TV Episode 2018), retrieved 14 July 2018
- ^ "Weekly top 10 programmes – BARB". Barb.co.uk. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
- Dark Heart at IMDb