4 /10 1 Votes4
1/5 The Telegraph First episode date 10 June 2015 | 6.1/10 IMDb Genre Drama Country of origin United Kingdom Final episode date 29 July 2015 Program creator Tony Saint | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Starring O. T. FagbenleEwan StewartLorraine AshbourneJo JoynerRobert LonsdaleAnna SkellernJeany SparkTrevor EveGary Beadle Similar Interceptor, Waking the Dead, The Five, Ordinary Lies, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The interceptor trailer bbc one
The Interceptor is a British drama television serial that was first broadcast on BBC One from 10 June until 29 July 2015. The eight-part series was written by Tony Saint and made by BBC Drama Productions. The series was cancelled by the BBC after one series following negative reception from critics.
Contents
The series is about a new law enforcement team tasked with hunting down some of Britain's most wanted criminals. The series is inspired by the book of the same name which details the career of former customs agent Cameron Addicott, co-written by Kris Hollington.
Synopsis
Special Agent Marcus "Ash" Ashton (Fagbenle), a HM Revenue and Customs agent and his partner Tommy (Lonsdale) capture a drugs shipper in an operation at London Waterloo station. Whilst his boss is happy with a conviction of 3 kg of cocaine, Ash wants a larger criminal. During the subsequent operation, Tommy is severely injured in a resultant car accident, and Ash is then suspended. Subsequently approached in a pub by Cartwright (Stewart), the head of top-secret UNIT (Undercover Narcotics Investigation Team), on first entering UNIT's HQ he meets a familiar face, his Customs training officer Valerie (Ashbourne).
Cast
Production
The Interceptor was commissioned by Ben Stephenson and Danny Cohen.The executive producer is Sarah Brown and the producer is Patrick Schweitzer. Filming began in London in March 2014, with David Gyasi cast in the lead role, but he left the production after injuring his leg. With OT Fagbenie recast in the lead role, filming re-commenced in April 2014. Part of the filming took place in Gravesend, at Nell's Cafe, which doubled for a cafe called 'Planet Thanet'. with the UNIT base scenes filmed on location in Keybridge House, a decommissioned British Telecom building in Vauxhall. The Interceptor was the first BBC production which purposefully used only electric powered cars behind the camera, using a fleet of five leased Vauxhall Ampera's.
Background
Cameron Addicott is a retired former UK customs officer/SOCA agent. Addicott had joined the Alpha Projects Unit, a group of dedicated undercover Customs officers who hunted the UK’s most dangerous criminals. Using telephone and electronically tapped data feeds, the Alpha team would then use the resulting intelligence to prevent serious criminals from committing crime, including prevention of murders, stopping large shipments of drugs and other organised crime. After retiring in 2008, Addicott began writing his memoirs, with the first part co-written by Kris Hollington and published by Penguin Books in 2010, titled The Interceptor.
Reception
The series received a universally negative response from critics. It was given 1/5 stars from Michael Hogan writing in The Telegraph he said "Fagbenle tried his best to inject some life into the limp script – huffing, puffing, pouting and glowering – but he’s too good for this hokum", Adam Postans writing for the Daily Mirror who wrote "This attempt at a gritty crime drama... is a cliched mess with appalling dialogue," and Christopher Stevens for the Daily Mail who wrote that "The show so bad it makes the rest of the Beeb look good". Sally Newell writing for The Independent wrote that the "watchable but predictable prime-time cop drama" and felt it was like "EastEnders on an adrenalin rush, but this contrived cop show lacks heart."
Broadcast
The series premiered in Australia on 12 August 2015 on BBC First.