The Fall (TV series)

Plot

Metropolitan Police Superintendent Stella Gibson, a senior investigating officer tasked with reviewing investigations, is seconded to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in order to assess the progress of a murder investigation that has remained active longer than 28 days. When it becomes apparent a serial killer is on the loose, local detectives must work with Stella to find and capture Paul Spector, who is attacking young professional women in the city of Belfast. As time passes Stella's team works tirelessly to build a case, but they are met with complications both inside and outside the PSNI. Paul, concurrently, builds a relationship with his children's babysitter, Katie, to unknown ends. As Spector's world comes crashing down, it may turn out to be his professional and not his personal decisions that cause the killer to face a fate he did not expect.

Etymology

Writer Cubitt was inspired by guitar manufacturing companies when naming some of his characters; both Stella and Gibson are brands of guitar, as are Bacon & Day, Benedetto, Brawley, Breedlove, Burns, Eastwood, Hagstrom, Kay, Martin, Music Man, Paul Reed Smith, Spector, Stagg and Tom Anderson.

Development

Cubitt said that he originally was researching another show he was planning on writing and read a book on the BTK Killer ("Bind, Torture, Kill") serial killer, Dennis Rader. Cubitt found the structure of the book, which began with a structured look at the BTK Killer's attack that was possible because of Rader's own testimony, documentary evidence that he had left, and the extensive forensic evidence that was gathered from the scene of the crime. Inspired by this, Cubitt created a structure where the killer is identified immediately, eliminating the whodunit aspect of many stories. The focus could then become on the motivation and underlying reasons for the killings and a focus on the insights that might be gained about the psychology of the killer, even in the face of what might be considered a normal, functioning person with a job, wife, and children. Cubitt said this was the starting point that interested him: how this supposedly normally functioning person would then be connected to the crimes.

Series 1

On 3 February 2012, BBC Two picked up The Fall series with a five episode order. The series was written by Allan Cubitt and produced for BBC Two by Artists Studio and BBC Northern Ireland, with funding from Northern Ireland Screen and the European Regional Development Fund. Gub Neal and Julian Stevens produced, with Cubitt, Justin Thomson-Glover, Patrick Irwin, and Stephen Wright serving as executive producers. Jakob Verbruggen directed the first series. Cubitt cast Gillian Anderson first, then cast Jamie Dornan. The series premiered in the Republic of Ireland on RTÉ One on 12 May 2013, and in the UK on BBC Two on 13 May 2013.

Series 2

BBC Two renewed the show for a second series on 27 May 2013. On 21 October 2013, it was announced that Jakob Verbruggen would not be returning to direct The Fall's second series. Instead Cubitt would direct, with production due to begin in February 2014. Series star Gillian Anderson became an executive producer for the programme from its second series. Production of series 2 ended in June 2014. Series 2 began in the Republic of Ireland on Sunday, 9 November on RTÉ One and in the United Kingdom on BBC Two Thursday, 13 November 2014.

Series 3

In March 2015, it was announced that the BBC had commissioned a third series of The Fall. Cubitt stated that this series was conceived "in the hope of further exploring the characters and themes that are at the heart of [the drama]". Cubitt stated that he has already envisaged how the show's third series will conclude. Carol Moorhead replaced Julian Stevens as second producer of the third series. Filming took place in Belfast between December 2015 and April 2016. The third series got an exclusive look at the Edinburgh International Television Festival on 25 August 2016. It premiered in the Republic of Ireland on Sunday, 25 September on RTÉ One and in the UK on Thursday, 29 September 2016 on BBC Two.

Future

It was reported that Cubitt has ideas for several seasons past Spector's arc. In September 2016, Cubitt confirmed that the third series is Dornan's last, but expressed intention for future series. Cubitt added that the fourth series "isn't going to be straight away." Anderson stated: "I'm excited by the idea of potentially revisiting it in a few years, to see what transpires in Stella's life afterwards."

Casting

Casting announcements began in February 2012, with Gillian Anderson first to be cast in the series as Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson. Next to join the series was Northern Irish actor Jamie Dornan as serial killer Paul Spector. Archie Panjabi, Emmett Scanlan and Karen Hassan were next to be cast, with Panjabi playing Reed Smith, Scanlan playing DC Glen Martin and Hassan playing Annie Brawley. It was later announced that Niamh McGrady, Bronagh Waugh, John Lynch, and Séainín Brennan had joined the series.

Both Anderson and Dornan returned for the second series of The Fall, as did supporting cast members Waugh, McGrady, Lynch, Panjabi, and Stuart Graham. Recurring cast members Aisling Franciosi, Hassan, Scanlan, Nick Lee, Valene Kane, Brian Milligan, and Brennan were promoted to main cast status. Ian McElhinney returned in episode 1, whilst Ben Peel returned in episode 2, both receiving guest star billing. Main cast newcomers included Bronágh Taggart as Detective Gail McNally, Irish actor Colin Morgan as Sergeant Tom Anderson, alongside Sean McGinley and Jonjo O'Neill.

Anderson, Dornan, Lynch, Waugh, Franciosi, Kane, O'Neill, and Morgan all returned as regulars for the third series, alongside new cast members Aisling Bea, Richard Coyle, Barry Ward, Richard Clements, Ruth Bradley, Genevieve O'Reilly, Aidan McArdle, Denise Gough, Martin McCann, Conor MacNeill, and Krister Henriksson. Former main cast members Niamh McGrady, Stuart Graham, and Bronagh Taggart returned in guest arcs.

International broadcast

The first series aired on Bravo in Canada. The series also aired across Latin America during September 2013 for subscribers of the TV satellite provider DirecTV. The Fall was aired in the exclusive channel OnDIRECTV in high definition. HBO Europe has picked up the series to air on their Cinemax channels in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania. Estonian National Broadcasting started to run the series in Estonia on channel ETV (Eesti Televisioon) on 7 December 2014. Hot (Israel) started screening the series on its video on demand service in February 2014. Reruns have aired on M3 in Canada since June 2014. In Australia, the first series was shown on UKTV (Foxtel) in April/May 2014. The series began airing on SBS One starting 23 October 2014. In New Zealand, the series began airing on the Sky channel SoHo on Thursday 29 August 2013. In Italy the first series was shown on Sky Atlantic. In The Netherlands the first series was aired by KRO in HD on public channel NPO 1 between 14 March 2015 and 11 April 2015.

In Australia, series 2 was shown on BBC First in November/December 2014 – within 48 hours of the first broadcasts in the UK, and on SBS One in November 2015. In the Netherlands series 2 began airing on KRO in HD on public channel NPO 1 on 29 August 2015.

In Germany, the show was given the title Tod in Belfast ("Death in Belfast"); series 1 and 2 were aired together in Germany on ZDF from 15 November to 16 December 2015. The two series were shown in a recut containing 6 episodes with each being 90 minutes long and a total of 540 minutes altogether. This equates to approximately 120 minutes of the whole material of series 1 and 2 being cut. The uncut version was later shown in re-runs by channels ZDFneo and Sky Krimi.

Reception

The Fall received positive reviews from critics. Both the first and the second season received a rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. The third season has a rating of 67%. The first season has a score of 81 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim". The third season has a score of 60 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Home media releases

The first series was made available in full in the United States via Netflix's "Watch Instantly" service starting 28 May 2013, and airs on Bravo and Netflix in Canada.

The second series was broadcast on Netflix's "Watch Instantly" service, starting in January 2015, in the United States. It was also broadcast on Netflix in Canada. In Latin America, Netflix began broadcasting the season on 16 January 2015, at 12:01am.

The third series was made available on Netflix on 29 October 2016.

French remake

In August 2016, it was announced that the French private national TV channel TF1 is producing a remake of the series, titled Dans l'ombre du tueur ("In the Shadow of the Killer"). The French adaptation will star Emmanuelle Seigner and Melvil Poupaud as the leads, and supporting cast that will include: Jean-Hugues Anglade, Claire Keim, Patrick Chesnais, Bérengère Krief and Sofia Essaïdi. Filming began in Lyon on 12 September 2016.