Dead Head (TV series)
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2016}}
{{Infobox television
| image = Dead_Head_(TV_series).jpg
| caption =
| runtime = 50 Minutes
| creator = Howard Brenton
| director = Rob Walker
| starring = Denis Lawson
Lindsay Duncan
George Baker
Simon Callow
Leonie Mellinger
| composer = Richard Hartley
| country = United Kingdom
| producer = Robin Midgley
| network = BBC2
| first_aired = {{Start date|1986|1|15|df=y}}
| last_aired = {{End date|1986|2|5|df=y}}
| num_episodes = 4
}}
Dead Head is a four-part crime thriller scripted by Howard Brenton.{{Cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/b7d3482972314ad48065a20d3cfbe18d|title=Dead Head|date=15 January 1986|issue=3242|pages=59|via=BBC Genome}} It juxtaposed 1940s film noir style and costumes with contemporary London settings. It was directed by Rob Walker.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b70943ec6|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505080452/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b70943ec6|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 May 2019|title=Anything for England (1986)|website=BFI}}
Plot
Petty criminal Eddy Cass (Lawson) receives a mysterious box that proves to contain the head of a young woman. This involves Cass in a conspiracy by the British security services to frame him for the crimes of a sadistic serial murderer of prostitutes.
Critical reception
The Times called it an "intriguing tale," though "neither a pleasant thriller to watch nor to contemplate"; while The Guardian thought it had "lashings of panache and style"; and writing in 1996, the Evening Standard called it the "only British series that came close to Twin Peaks jocular malice."{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=24mEDwAAQBAJ&q=dead+head+howard+brenton+reviews&pg=PA314|title=Looking-Glass Wars: Spies on British Screens since 1960|first=Alan|last=Burton|date=31 January 2018|publisher=Vernon Press|isbn=9781622732906|via=Google Books}}
Home media
The series was released on DVD in the UK on 15 April 2013.{{Cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-Head-DVD-Lindsay-Duncan/dp/B00B9DOV3O|title=Dead Head|date=15 April 2013|via=Amazon}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0088501|Dead Head}}
- Details of episodes [http://www.startrader.co.uk/Action%20TV/guide80s/deadhead.htm Action TV Online - Dead Head episode guide] Action TV episode guide
{{Howard Brenton}}
Category:BBC crime drama television shows
Category:1980s British drama television series
Category:1980s British television miniseries
Category:British English-language television shows
Category:Television shows set in London
Category:1986 British television series debuts