You mention the name Robbie Coltrane to anyone these days and nine times out of ten the answer you will get is: ''Oh, that's him from 'Harry Potter!''. Those people seem to forget his roles in various films and television shows such as 'Nuns On The Run', 'The Pope Must Die', 'A Kick Up The Eighties', 'Laugh??? I Nearly Paid My Licence Fee', 'The Comic Strip Presents' and 'Tutti Frutti'. Those same people to forget that before he was Ruebus Hagrid, he was Eddie 'Fitz' Fitzgerald from Jimmy McGovern's wonderful crime drama 'Cracker'.
Fitz is an obnoxious, heavy drinking, chain-smoking gambling addict with a raging temper and a mouth like a sewer. He is also an unfaithful husband and an unattentive father. These flaws aside, he is a highly intelligent and well respected psychologist whose knack for getting into the minds of criminals and getting them to confess aids greatly into the solving of police cases.
The role of Fitz was originally written for Robert Lindsay but he turned it down. Talented though Lindsay is, I do not think he could have bettered Coltrane's performance. The part suited him down to a tee. Despite the character's habits and personality, in the hands of Coltrane he somehow was likeable. Also impressive in the cast were Barbara Flynn as his downtrodden wife Judith, Ricky Tomlinson as DCI Charlie Wise and Geraldine Somerville as DS Jane 'Panhandle' Penhaligon. Clive Russell and Robert Carlyle also made some memorable guest appearances.
My favourite episode was 'To Say I Love You' which saw two young social misfits with criminal tendencies wreaking crime everywhere. Jimmy McGovern's scripts were consistently of high standard and wonderfully combined some humour within the dark elements.
An American version was made in 1997 entitled 'Fitz' with Robert Pastorelli in the title role but it was a colossal flop. Thankfully, there do not seem to be immediate plans to remake the show. I would hate to think the show would be revamped with a total nobody in the title role.
Fitz is an obnoxious, heavy drinking, chain-smoking gambling addict with a raging temper and a mouth like a sewer. He is also an unfaithful husband and an unattentive father. These flaws aside, he is a highly intelligent and well respected psychologist whose knack for getting into the minds of criminals and getting them to confess aids greatly into the solving of police cases.
The role of Fitz was originally written for Robert Lindsay but he turned it down. Talented though Lindsay is, I do not think he could have bettered Coltrane's performance. The part suited him down to a tee. Despite the character's habits and personality, in the hands of Coltrane he somehow was likeable. Also impressive in the cast were Barbara Flynn as his downtrodden wife Judith, Ricky Tomlinson as DCI Charlie Wise and Geraldine Somerville as DS Jane 'Panhandle' Penhaligon. Clive Russell and Robert Carlyle also made some memorable guest appearances.
My favourite episode was 'To Say I Love You' which saw two young social misfits with criminal tendencies wreaking crime everywhere. Jimmy McGovern's scripts were consistently of high standard and wonderfully combined some humour within the dark elements.
An American version was made in 1997 entitled 'Fitz' with Robert Pastorelli in the title role but it was a colossal flop. Thankfully, there do not seem to be immediate plans to remake the show. I would hate to think the show would be revamped with a total nobody in the title role.