The Crooked Man

This article is about the television show. For the Sherlock Holmes story, see The Adventure of the Crooked Man.
The Crooked Man
Genre Crime drama
Thriller
Created by Shaun McKenna
Philip Davison (novel)
Starring Ross Kemp
Liam Cunningham
Natasha Little
Michael Byrne
Rupert Frazer
Alan McKenna
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
Production
Executive producer(s) David Drury
Louise Foster
Producer(s) Elli Jason
Running time 120 mins.
Release
Original network ITV
Picture format 16:9
Original release 17 December 2003

The Crooked Man was a one-off British crime drama broadcast on ITV1 on 17 December 2003,[1] starring Ross Kemp as the protagonist, Harry Fielding, an investigative reporter who becomes embroiled in a twisted case of murder and blackmail. Written by Shaun McKenna and directed by David Drury, the film gathered 5.66m viewers.[2]

The DVD of the film was released in 2003, as a Region 2 release, exclusive to the Netherlands.[3] The film itself is a based upon the novel of the same name, written by Philip Davison.

Plot

Harry Fielding (Ross Kemp) is an investigative reporter working for a secret agency designed to covertly document the compromising activities of important public figures. His latest task is to investigate member of parliament Douglas Jenner (Rupert Frazer), who has reportedly been playing away from his wife with a mistress, Angela Richardson (Marina Morgan). Meanwhile, Harry finds he has a new neighbour – primary school teacher Lisa Talbot (Natasha Little), whose daughter, Sarah (Karen Wallace-Jones), is being tormented by an abusive boyfriend, Joe (Simon Meacock).

At the request of his boss, Hamilton (Liam Cunningham), Harry takes covert photos of Angela rowing with her ex, Alex Simpson (Alan McKenna), and follows Angela as she goes to meet with Jenner. However, he spots Lisa driving erratically, and out of intrigue, follows her to what turns out to be Joe's house. Harry sits in wait as an argument between and Sarah and Joe ends in tragedy, with Lisa accidentally causing Joe's death by pushing him down the stairs. Harry follows Lisa into the woods as she attempts to bury Joe's body, but early the next day, he informs her that he knows all about the events of the night before, and that they need to return to the woods to bury the body deeper. Lisa questions why Harry would be willing to help her; and he tells her that he is not fazed by anything.

Meanwhile, a dog walker in the woods finds Joe's body, and a subsequent police investigation leads to Harry and Lisa being arrested, after a witness claims to have spotted Harry's car following Lisa on the night of the murder. Harry and Lisa are both later released without charge on the orders of Hamilton. Harry tells Lisa to keep quiet to avoid further incrimination. Meanwhile, Harry approaches a friend, Jimmy Mo (Hi Ching), and asks him if he can park his car at the back of his restaurant while he continues his surveillance on Jenner. Jimmy agrees, but in return, Harry has to babysit his teenage daughter, Mei Ling (Hannah Ho), while he attends an important meeting. Mei Ling becomes interested in Harry's line of work, but Harry kindly asks her to mind her own business.

Later that night, while keeping surveillance on Jenner, Harry witnesses Jenner stab Angela during a heated argument. In order to blackmail Jenner, Harry approaches him and says that he will dispose of the body. He and Hamilton come and remove Angela's body from her flat, and fully clean the scene in order to remove any incriminating evidence. Harry and Hamilton take the body to a local crematorium, and Hamilton performs a midnight cremation, unaware that Mei Ling has been hiding in Harry's car the whole time, and has witnessed the whole event - as well as taking incriminating photos on her camera. When Harry discovers that Mei Ling has been following him, he offers her money to hand over her camera.

Harry soon comes to realise that Hamilton is working from a secret agenda, and that Lisa is in fact a colleague who has been ordered to keep tabs on Harry by Archie Saunders (Michael Byrne), the head of his organisation. Harry meets with Saunders, who confirms that Jenner will be protected from the public eye for the time being, but that the evidence will kept on file and eventually revealed further down the line.

Cast

References

  1. ↑ The Crooked Man Trailer - ITV1 2003. 29 November 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2016 – via YouTube.
  2. ↑ "BARB - Broadcasters Audience Research Board". Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "Crooked Man (import)". Retrieved 24 May 2016.
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