Page 28 - Fujifilm Exposure_34 Curse Of The Were-Rabbit_ok

T
he last we heard of Fitz, the larger-than-life police psy- chologist who in several BAFTA-winning ITV dramas between 1993 and 1996 became a small screen icon, was that he’d gone to
earth Down Under.
Now, thanks to some quick charity
thinking by Cracker’s creator, writer Jimmy McGovern, ‘Fitz’, alias Robbie Coltrane, is back on his old patch after a decade away for a typically edgy, ‘torn-from-the-headlines’ tale involving the legacy of the Northern Ireland con- flict and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Apparently the Hillsborough Family Support Group, who’d assisted McGovern with his 1996 TV drama on the disaster, had ended up a sponsor short for a fund-raising event. The writer told The Guardian that he asked Granada to fill the shortfall and in return he’d write them another Cracker. Millions of fans will be grate- ful for this oddly roundabout route to the great shrink’s belated resurrection.
According to producer John Chapman (The Lost Prince), Granada’s Andy Harries had long wanted to per- suade McGovern back to Cracker but it seems the writer – who is also heavily involved in a new BBC drama series, The Street - remained reluctant unless he had something specific to write about. Coltrane certainly wasn’t going to do it unless McGovern did it.
Said Chapman: “I’d wanted to work with Jimmy for years and I’d admired
Cracker hugely when Gub Neal was producing it 10 years ago and also could remember what a huge impact it had. Jimmy had a series of things he wanted to talk about and Cracker pro- vided an umbrella under which he could deal with various issues that were of longstanding interest to him.
“Having done Sunday [about Bloody Sunday] he was also still very interested in the whole residue of what had happened to soldiers who’d been damaged by the experience of conflict in Northern Ireland.”
Chapman had also known – though not worked before with - director Antonia Bird for years from the time they were both involved separately in theatre. Although Bird had not been involved either in previous produc- tions of Cracker, she had previously collaborated with McGovern in 1994 on the memorable film drama, Priest. So, noted Chapman, their working together on the new Cracker seemed “an obvious marriage”.
The production also signalled another re-union – between Bird and young German cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister, who together had previously fashioned the startling docu-drama, The Hamburg Cell, a sort of prequel to the 9/11 tragedy.
Explained Hoffmeister: “Being from Germany, I’m obviously not so much connected to the cultural legend of Cracker although the show has been shown on our television. I do remem- ber watching the first episode, direct-
ed by Michael Winterbottom, and enjoying it very much. For this, though, I didn’t specifically watch any of the earlier episodes.
“Due to its history, tradition of con- troversy and, of course, Robbie’s leg- endary performance as Fitz, I do con-
sider it a real privilege to have worked on this ‘resurrection’. Working with Antonia is both demanding and inspir- ing. You also feel very trusted when collaborating with her, which con- tributes to an ideal atmosphere of cre- ativity. I personally admire her directo-
in production
Swapping Australia for Manchester, Robbie Coltrane returns after 10 years as quirky ‘shrink’ Eddie ‘Fitz’ Fitzgerald in a new two-hour special
Photos: On the set of Cracker; main: Robbie Coltrane as Fitz; above l-r: Producer John Chapman (standing, left of Coltrane); Director Antonia Bird (standing) enjoying a coffee and a joke; ...and Action! 26 • Exposure • The Magazine • Fujifilm Motion Picture