"Ultraviolet" (1998) TV series

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

31 July 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

They Look Like Us. They Act Like Us.

Plot:

Michael Colefield is unwillingly thrust into the nightmarish world of vampires when he discovers a secret...

Plot Keywords:

Undercover | Secret | Police | Vampire | Secret Government Organisation

Cast

Fiona Dolman	...	Frances Pembroke (6 episodes, 1998)
Jack Davenport	...	Detective Sergeant Michael Colefield (6 episodes, 1998)
Idris Elba	...	Vaughan Rice / ... (6 episodes, 1998)
Colette Brown	...	Kirsty Maine (6 episodes, 1998)
Susannah Harker	...	Dr. Angela 'Angie' March (4 episodes, 1998)
Philip Quast	...	Father Pearse J. Harman (4 episodes, 1998)
Thomas Lockyer	...	Journalist Jacob Keanault (4 episodes, 1998)
Elizabeth Earl	...	Rose March (2 episodes, 1998)
Stephen Moyer	...	Jack Beresford (2 episodes, 1998)

(more)

Series Directed by
Joe Ahearne		(6 episodes, 1998)

Series Writing credits
Joe Ahearne		(6 episodes, 1998)

Series Produced by
Sophie Balhetchet	....	executive producer (6 episodes, 1998)
Bill Shapter	....	producer (6 episodes, 1998)

Series Original Music by
Sue Hewitt		(6 episodes, 1998)

Series Cinematography by
Peter Greenhalgh		(6 episodes, 1998)

Series Film Editing by
Jason Krasucki		(3 episodes, 1998)
Nick McPhee		(3 episodes, 1998)

Series Casting by
Susie Bruffin		(6 episodes, 1998)
Liz Vincent-Fernie		(6 episodes, 1998)

Series Production Design by
Jon Bunker		(6 episodes, 1998)

Series Art Direction by
Ian Reade-Hill		(unknown episodes)

Series Costume Design by
Amy Roberts		(6 episodes, 1998)

Series Makeup Department
Stuart Conran	....	prosthetics & special effects makeup (unknown episodes)
Elisa Johnson	....	makeup designer (unknown episodes)
Theresa Kelly	....	hair stylist / makeup artist (unknown episodes)

Series Production Management
Danielle Brandon	....	production manager (6 episodes, 1998)
Peter Gallagher	....	production supervisor (6 episodes, 1998)
Liz Pearson	....	post-production supervisor (6 episodes, 1998)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sam Harris	....	first assistant director / second assistant director (unknown episodes)
Ted Rae	....	second unit director (unknown episodes)
Siobhan Tucker	....	first assistant director (unknown episodes)

Series Art Department
Gillie Delap	....	production buyer (unknown episodes)
Jason Herriott	....	key scenic (unknown episodes)
John Maher	....	construction manager (unknown episodes)
Tony Marks	....	carpenter (unknown episodes)
Kenny Roy	....	scenic artist (unknown episodes)
Richard Van Den Bergh	....	model maker (unknown episodes)

Series Sound Department
Orin Beaton	....	boom operator (unknown episodes)
Wayne Brooks	....	sound effects editor (unknown episodes)
Matthew Collinge	....	sound effects editor (unknown episodes)
David Old	....	dubbing mixer (unknown episodes)
Danny Sheehan	....	sound editor (unknown episodes)
Trevor Swanscott	....	foley mixer (unknown episodes)
Ian Voigt	....	sound recordist (unknown episodes)
Ian Wilkinson	....	dialogue editor (unknown episodes)
Rowena Wilkinson	....	foley artist (unknown episodes)

Series Visual Effects by
Chris Roff	....	digital special effects advisor (6 episodes, 1998)
Duncan Horn	....	digital special effects editor (unknown episodes)
Robert Minshall	....	digital compositor: Encore Visual Effects (unknown episodes)
Sean Mullen	....	digital compositor: Encore Visual Effects (unknown episodes)
Ted Rae	....	visual effects supervisor (unknown episodes)

Series Stunts
Dino Dos Santos	....	utility stunts (unknown episodes)
Kevin Rushton	....	stunt actor (unknown episodes)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Gary Chaisty	....	gaffer (unknown episodes)
Nathan Mann	....	focus puller (unknown episodes)
Ben Philpott	....	camera operator (unknown episodes)
John Robinson	....	grip (unknown episodes)
Martin Stevens	....	camera operator (unknown episodes)

Series Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sheila Cullen	....	wardrobe supervisor (unknown episodes)

Series Editorial Department
Josef d'Bache-Kane	....	assistant on-line editor (unknown episodes)
Dan Roberts	....	assistant editor (unknown episodes)

Series Other crew
Fleur Fontaine	....	production coordinator (6 episodes, 1998)
Kevin Freemantle	....	production accountant (6 episodes, 1998)
Simon Heath	....	script editor (6 episodes, 1998)
Emma Short	....	assistant accountant (6 episodes, 1998)
Jim Allan	....	location manager (unknown episodes)
Rupert Bray	....	location manager (unknown episodes)
Carol Saunderson	....	script supervisor (unknown episodes)
Warner Strauss	....	assistant location manager (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• World Productions

Distributors

• Channel 4 Television Corporation
• Sci-Fi Channel, The

Other Companies

• 2020 Casting  extras casting

Also Known As:

"Crossing the Line" (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

300 min (6 parts)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Southwark Bridge, Southwark, London, England, UK

Company:

World Productions

Trivia:

In 2000, the Fox network in America produced a pilot episode for a US remake of ‘Ultraviolet’. However, the series was not picked up and the pilot itself never aired.

Quotes:

Father Pearse J. Harman: Our free range days are over.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Underworld (2003)

Mea culpa

I recant, I repent, I withdraw my previous reserved review. At the time when I first reviewed Ultraviolet (which was some time after I'd actually watched it), Buffy and Angel were at their peak, and slick, quippy vampires were all the rage. But that's been taken as far as it can be. Tiring of the superficiality of the Buffyverse, I decided to give Ultraviolet another try.

Oh my. Oh MY. It's far better than I remember. Yes, the characters are miserable, but it's clearly laid out why this is so, and it all adds to the sense that this is *serious*, and that there are no quick fixes. There are nuances to the character development that I'd missed last time (I recall being distracted and only seeing half of the episodes when I first watched it), and I really, truly felt for them as people (it doesn't hurt that Susannah Harker looks like a melancholy angel, of course). It's underplayed perfectly, with only the occasionally shoddy piece of score to cheapen the tone.

And most of all, I felt for the vampires. These aren't the disposable charicatures of the Buffyverse, and they surpass even the fleshed out characters of Near Dark. They are real, rational people, with real emotions and familiar and touching desires and goals. They just happen to be immortal and drink blood. After you've seen vampires done this way, it makes you question why it should ever be otherwise. Ultraviolet tackles the question "If I was me, but a vampire, what would I do, what would I *actually* be like?" without flinching, trivialising, or slipping up.

There are no tomes of ancient wisdom, no easy answers, and most of all, no black and white morality. Ultraviolet poses the question: if you're always offered the choice to become a vampire, and if you don't have to kill to feed, then where is the crime? Why is it *wrong* to be a vampire? Just because the Church says so?

Ultraviolet leaves the viewer to make up his or her own mind about who the bad guys actually are, and whether there are any good guys in this scenario. It's an interesting and respectful take on the genre.