Cracker: Behind The Scenes

Year: 2006
Written/Directed by: Vernon Antcliff
Featuring: Paul Abbott, Hilary Bevan Jones, Robbie Coltrane, Lorcan Cranitch, Christopher Eccleston, Barbara Flynn, Andy Harries, Jimmy McGovern, Gub Neal, Kieran O'Brien and Rafe Spall.
Duration: 45'36m
Certificate: 15
DVD Availability Try amazon (region 1)/sendit.com (region 2)

Full Crew: John Thompson (Narrator), Howard Nock (Dubbing Mixer), Scott McKenzie (Online Editor), Paul Senior @3SixtyMedia (Graphic Design), Neil Stewart (Film Editor), Catherine Barratt (Production Manager), Louise Ireland (Assistant Producer), Sarah cain (Producer), Sarah Murch (Executive Producer) and Vernon Antcliff (Writer/Director). ITV Productions.

Viewpoint:
"From an acting point of view there was nothing for me to do, I was getting frustrated... with being, you know, second fiddle."

Behind the scenes documentaries of series like this are very often just full of sound bites and there to talk up a returning series - as this was, indeed, a specially commissioned documentary to tie in with the 2006 special. However, this one is better than most, touching on issues like the writer initially thinking Coltrane was miscast, or Chris's reasons for leaving.

If it's Chris you're after, then he appears for under two minutes, though what he says is very striking, including the title quote. Notable ommissions from the interviewees are Geraldine Somerville, and, to a lesser extent, Ricky Tomlinson. However, pretty much all of the main creative team are present, and the central cast (minus Somerville) are interviewed. On the same note, it might have been nice to have heard from Anthony Flannagan, the main guest star of the 2006 special, though there's no knowing if they were too busy to take part.

There really is little else to say about this special... if you're watching it primarily as a fan of Christopher Eccleston, then you can maybe afford to give it a miss. If you're watching it as a fan of Cracker, then it's certainly worth a look, with one or two interesting tales...