TV SERIES · 1985– · UK
Edge of Darkness
21 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
21 Interesting Facts About Edge of Darkness
Interesting Facts (17)
- #001
Joe Don Baker was so impressed by the script that he agreed to take a reduced fee in order to appear in the series.
- #002
Walt Patterson, who served as a consultant on the series, was one of the leading commentators on nuclear matters and is best known for his book Nuclear Power (Penguin, 1976-1986). He later served as an expert adviser to the UK House of Commons Select Committee on the Environment for its 1986 Radioactive Waste inquiry. He continues to contribute to policy debates on energy and environmental issues.
- #003
The scenes at Northmoor were filmed in Wales.
- #004
In creating the role of Ronald Craven, Bob Peck drew on the experience he had gained over two years playing Macbeth with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
- #005
Bob Peck was one of four actors shortlisted for the role of Craven.
- #006
Emma Craven was twenty-one when she died. Joanne Whalley was in fact twenty-four.
- #007
The script went through many changes and revisions. Ronald Reagan's speech of 23 March 1983 announcing the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), which proposed protecting the United States from nuclear missile attacks, had a particular influence. One of the supporters of SDI was Lyndon LaRouche, on whom Jerry Grogan was based.
- #008
In light of the inquiry into the construction of the Sizewell B nuclear power station and concerns over the safety record of the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant, Troy Kennedy Martin was struck by the secrecy surrounding the United Kingdom's nuclear energy policy, which led him to devise International Irradiated Fuels and its CEO, Robert Bennett.
- #009
By 1983 Troy Kennedy Martin had written a first draft; at that stage it was titled Magnox (a reference to the Magnox type of nuclear reactor) and dealt with trade union problems in the nuclear industry. The script was given to Jonathan Powell, head of BBC drama series and serials, who encouraged Kennedy Martin to keep developing it.
- #010
Advice on the series' police aspects was provided by West Yorkshire Police and by the former Scotland Yard detective Jack Slipper, famous for his pursuit of Ronald Biggs.
- #011
Producer Michael Wearing approached Eric Clapton to provide the music. Shortly afterwards, when Michael Kamen brought Clapton to a screening of Brazil (1985), for which Kamen had composed the score, Clapton suggested a collaboration between the two of them.
- #012
Martin Campbell clashed with Troy Kennedy Martin and in particular demanded that the idea that Craven had known about Emma's relationship with Gaia from the start be rewritten; at Campbell's insistence it was removed.
- #013
Troy Kennedy Martin was influenced by John Darragh's The Real Camelot (Thames and Hudson, 1981), which examines the pagan origins of the Arthurian legend. He thus saw Ronald Craven as a modern Green Man who would confront threats to the Earth in the name of Gaia, Darius Jedburgh as one of the Knights of the Border, a Teutonic Knight defending the frontiers of Eastern Europe, and Grogan as a descendant of the Knights Templar who, according to legend, guarded a special wisdom in the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. These strands were to culminate at the end of the series, when Craven, having found the plutonium stolen by Jedburgh, would be shot by a sniper and transformed into a tree.
- #014
The plutonium containers were in fact cheap storage boxes bought from Woolworths with nuclear warning trefoil stickers attached.
- #015
Throughout filming, the production continued to be referred to as Magnox; the title Dark Forces was briefly considered before the series was renamed Edge of Darkness in April 1985.
- #016
Bob Peck played Joanne Whalley's father despite being sixteen years older than her.
- #017
Baker's character is named "Jedburgh," after a secret military intelligence operation conducted by Britain during World War II.
Production Story (1)
- #018
The budget was set at £2 million, of which £400,000 came from the American co-producer Lionheart Television International.
Characters & Cast (1)
- #019
Bob Peck complained that Joe Don Baker got all the good lines.
Easter Eggs & References (2)
- #020
Joe Don Baker's character, Jedburgh, shares his name with the codename of a Second World War sabotage group that worked with the French Resistance to parachute agents behind enemy lines. The codename was taken from a Scottish town. The character's name therefore hints at the kind of role he would play in the series.
- #021
Jedburgh pronounces his name as "Jedburg" throughout. In Scotland the town of the same name is usually pronounced "Jedburuh", as it is by the Scottish landowner Mrs Girvan. (It is also known locally as "Jeddart".)
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- IMDb
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