roisfamily Equally as great as the best British Mysteries: Prime suspect, Wire in the Blood, Touch of Frost and Trial & Retribution.I'm surprised this TV series isn't better know. Cracker is immensely "UNDERRATED".As you may have read in the other reviews it is the storyline that's highly praised. EXACTLY MY OPINION! The main writer, Jimmy McGovern is just simply an intelligent storyteller. Now this series wouldn't be as great as it is if Robbie Coltrane's portrayals of a hard drinking, chain smoking, overweight gambling addict wasn't as talented. However even with such a dramatic acting performance it is Jimmy McGovern with his fantastically ingenious way of sucking you into his story lines, where you can't go on living the rest of your life not knowing how the story ends, that steals the show. Why this series isn't praised to the same degree as Prime Suspect or Trial & Retribution are, nor as well known is just beyond me. As I said "IMMENSELY UNDERRATED". The only thing I can think of is that those other TV series ran for longer or expanded for a longer period. Because in my opinion Jimmy McGovern is up there with Lynda Laplante, R.D. Wingfield & Arthur Conan Doyle.Yeah....The Brits learned a long time ago that it is good story lines "first" that make a show great and good acting, good directing, good editing second. Not pretty young faces and expensive special effects. God! "Hollywood really needs to learn allot still from the UK's Television Industry". They produce a far better product for UK TV than what we get here in the USA in movie theaters. "And with only 10% of the budget" .By Dedoshucos

kiwi43 I really enjoyed this series when it was first shown and have caught several episodes as repeats, but was recently given the DVDs of the complete original series, and rediscovered Fitz and his family, and his colleagues. By watching the episodes in order, and watching a whole story each day (I was on holiday from work) it was possible to see the development in character and relationships.The fact that I already knew what was going to happen made me note things I had not seen originally. They are not whodunnits, but whydunnits. My personal favourite, Men Should Weep, brought me to tears. The acting throughout the series is brilliant, the dialogue scintillating, and the settings atmospheric. It is so good to see real looking people,warts and all, not the perfect faces/ bodies of so much American TV.

josephmartindc I stumbled onto "Cracker" knowing nothing about it nor Robbie Coltrane. After getting into the series, I felt as if I'd died and gone to heaven. Previous writers have written very well about the brilliance of Robbie Coltrane's acting and Jimmy McGovern's writing. "Cracker" and so many other well-directed, -acted, -written British detective series beg the question: Why is Hollywood incapable of this stuff? With few exceptions, the U.S. film industry fails and fails so miserably. Except for the folks at HBO and the Boston PBS affiliate WGBH in collaboration with like-minded professionals in the U.K., "the suits" of the American film industry seem unwilling to gamble on a series like (the British version of) "Cracker." I also highly recommend "Foyle's War," "Touching Evil," and "Second Sight" if you're a fan of brilliant British detective series. "Prime Suspect" remains on my list to watch among some others, all British. I am forever thankful these are all available on DVD.

cstrother-1 This is extraordinary TV/film-making. It is as good as Sopranos or Six Feet Under. Complex, deep, filled with the unexpected. I, like others, have found that British drama can be a bit slow, but this is anything but slow. First rate writing and acting all around. I can't add much to what others have said. This is truly the real Magoo. I am amazed that I have not seen this series written up everywhere. Hate to build it up to others, because I came upon it relatively unbuilt up and it just knocked me out. Sorry for all the hyperbole, but this deserves it. Robbie Coltrane is quite the 300 + pound sex symbol. All of of the actors play human beings with strengths and weakness, with complex interactions. The Big Sleep has nothing on this. Prime Suspect is good too, but the characters here are more believable.