Touching Evil: The Complete Series, 1-3 [DVD] [1997]

Looked watching the DVDs we did.

Some people like old films : their qualities take them back to another world that has disappeared a long time ago and they continue to appreciate that bygone era.'Touching Evil' was made and is set in the late 1990's and it does look rather poor against contemporary police dramas made since that era --- it doesn't hold that certain 'charm' that a viewer can enjoy that an old favourite will bring out when watched today.The lighting may be deliberately diffused for an 'arty' look but most scenes come over as dark and poorly lit and don't , in my view, create atmosphere. There are other more successful ways of giving a series 'a dark thriller' look and feel and it didn't work for me. Continuity was another problem with some silly and glaring unanswered questions in some of the episodes which was cheap, just so as to continue the story line.On the plus side Series 1 opened beautifully with the hugely underrated Ian McDiarmid as the antagonist. He was John Thaw's match in an episode of 'Morse' titled 'Masonic Mysteries' and currently enjoys fame in the 'Star Wars' franchise.A bonus for the series is that each separate story has 2 episodes of 50 minutes each devoted to that plot, and there is a story arc linking episodes occasionally. A good length to build characters both good and bad but I was left with the feeling that the team of detectives had very little depth even after the entire 800 minutes.To be honest I was entertained but also irritated by the series so can give it only 3 stars.English subtitles , 16 episodes, 800 minutes. Aspect ratio 4:3 (bars to each side of screen). I did click the picture mode request on my tv and got a full screen but you just don't know how much of the actual picture you are losing.

An excellent series with fine performances from the main cast. Good stories but the thing that I was a bit disappointed with was the picture quality in the first two series. Over done with light in some scenes which really washes out the picture. In some of those types of scene you can hardly make out their faces and they were also very grainy in those shots. Don't know if they were shot deliberately like that or if the quality of the source material was poor - either way, it was off-putting. A shame, because apart from that it was a very very good watch. Also, of course, the picture is 4:3 full screen but you would expect that being from 1997 to 1999. Even with the picture problems it is well worth buying for some good gritty drama.

enjoyable to watch, a very good series and with robson green starring,what is not to like about it, i am happy with my purchase.

Sooo slow..Sooooo predictable.Only the last two episodes were worth a watch.If your a fan of Robson Green watch this before watching the much better Blood on the wire.

If I had watched this at the time it was made, late 1990s, I probably would have rated it a lot higher. Today, it is interesting to see the sries as evidence that tv series - if I stick to the quality level - really have improved. I'd say it is both in the writing and in the direction the problem lies here. The stories just don't grab you, conflicts constructed, and the direction lacks style, flow and tension. Only one double episode (the penultimate of the 3rd series) shows production values that can compete with quality series of today. Robson Green is good, but always Robson Green. This also feel like his testing ground for the massivley better Wire in the Blood, only a few years later. If you haven't seen that series, go for that instead.

Wire in the Blood is another one of my favourite series, so when I saw this I had to have it. Robson's character in Touching Evil has similar mannerisms to his character in Wire in the Blood. I liked this series but Wire in the Blood is still my favourite. I was happy with the price even when it was converted to AUD, quality was good, received it quicker than I thought & it was packaged very well.

A product fault left me with a disc that was minus most of an episode - but that notwithstanding the whole series is a great example of how top of their trade scriptwriters can produce hour after hour of cliff-hanger, episodic-style storylines that just never disappoint. The cast and production - equally great - highly recommended.