The Fall | |
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Genre | |
Created by | Allan Cubitt |
Written by | Allan Cubitt |
Directed by |
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Starring | |
Theme music composer | David Holmes |
Composers |
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Country of origin |
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Original language | English |
No. of series | 3 |
No. of episodes | 17 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Production locations | Belfast, Northern Ireland |
Running time | 60–90 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | |
Release | 13 May 2013 – 28 October 2016 |
The Fall is a crime drama television series filmed and set in Northern Ireland. The series, starring Gillian Anderson as Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson, is created and written by Allan Cubitt and features Jamie Dornan as serial killer Paul Spector. It is produced by Artists Studio, and shown on ZDFneo in Germany, RTÉ One in the Republic of Ireland, and BBC Two in the UK.
The series premiered in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland on RTÉ One on 12 May 2013, [1] and in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 13 May 2013 followed by ZDFneo. [2] The second series began in the Republic of Ireland on 9 November and in the UK on 13 November 2014. The third series premiered on RTÉ One on 25 September [3] and on BBC Two on 29 September 2016. [4]
Metropolitan Police Superintendent Stella Gibson, a senior investigating officer who reviews investigations, is seconded to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to assess the progress of a murder investigation that has remained active for longer than 28 days. When it becomes apparent that a serial killer is on the loose, local detectives must work with Stella to find and capture Paul Spector, who is attacking young professional women in the city of Belfast. As time passes Stella's team works tirelessly to build a case but they are met with complications inside and outside the PSNI.
Cubitt said that he originally was researching another show he was planning on writing and read a book on the BTK ("Bind, Torture, Kill") serial killer, Dennis Rader. Cubitt found the structure of the book intriguing, which began with a look at the BTK Killer's attack that was possible because of Rader's testimony, his documentary evidence and the extensive forensic evidence that was gathered from the scene of the crime. Cubitt created a structure where the killer is identified immediately, eliminating the whodunit aspect of many stories. The focus could then become the motives for the killings and on the insights that might be gained about the psychology of the killer, even in the face of what might be considered a normal, functioning person with a job, wife and children. Cubitt said this was the starting point that interested him: how this supposedly normally functioning person would then be connected to the crimes. [5]
On 3 February 2012, BBC Two picked up The Fall series with a five-episode order. [6] [7] The series was written by Allan Cubitt and produced for BBC Two by Artists Studio and BBC Northern Ireland, with funding from Northern Ireland Screen and the European Regional Development Fund. [6] [7] Gub Neal and Julian Stevens produced, with Cubitt, Justin Thomson-Glover, Patrick Irwin, and Stephen Wright serving as executive producers. [6] [7] [8] Jakob Verbruggen directed the first series. [9] Cubitt cast Gillian Anderson first, then cast Jamie Dornan. [5] The series premiered in the Republic of Ireland on RTÉ One on 12 May 2013, [1] in the UK on BBC Two on 13 May 2013 and ZDFneo on 14 May 2013. [2]
BBC Two renewed the show for a second series on 27 May 2013. [10] On 21 October 2013, it was announced that Jakob Verbruggen would not be returning to direct The Fall's second series. Instead Cubitt would direct, with production due to begin in February 2014. [11] Series star Gillian Anderson became an executive producer for the programme from its second series. [10] [12] Production of series 2 ended in June 2014. [13] Series 2 began in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland on Sunday, 9 November on RTÉ One and in the United Kingdom on BBC Two Thursday, 13 November 2014.
In March 2015, it was announced that the BBC had commissioned a third series of The Fall. [14] Cubitt stated that this series was conceived "in the hope of further exploring the characters and themes that are at the heart of [the drama]". [15] Cubitt stated that he had already envisaged how the show's third series would end. [16] Carol Moorhead replaced Julian Stevens as second producer of the third series. [17] Filming took place in Belfast between December 2015 and April 2016. [18] The third series got an exclusive look at the Edinburgh International Television Festival on 25 August 2016. [17] It premiered in the Republic of Ireland on Sunday, 25 September on RTÉ One [3] and in the UK on Thursday, 29 September 2016 on BBC Two. [4]
It was reported that Cubitt has ideas for several seasons past Spector's arc. [19] In September 2016, Cubitt confirmed that the third series is Dornan's last, but expressed intention for future series. Cubitt added that the fourth series "isn't going to be straight away." [20] Anderson stated: "I'm excited by the idea of potentially revisiting it in a few years, to see what transpires in Stella's life afterwards." [21]
Casting announcements began in February 2012, with Gillian Anderson first to be cast in the series as Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson. [6] [7] [22] Next to join the series was Northern Irish actor Jamie Dornan as serial killer Paul Spector. [23] [24] [25] Séainín Brennan, Archie Panjabi, Emmett Scanlan and Karen Hassan were next to be cast, with Brennan playing Liz Tyler, Panjabi playing Reed Smith, Scanlan playing DC Glen Martin and Hassan playing Annie Brawley. [26] [27] It was later announced that Niamh McGrady, Bronagh Waugh, and John Lynch had joined the series. [26] [28] [29]
In 2014, it was announced that Colin Morgan and Bronagh Taggart had joined the cast in starring roles as Tom Anderson and Gail McNally, respectively. Jonjo O'Neill later joined the main cast, while Claire Rafferty was cast in a recurring capacity. Ian McElhinney departed the series in episode 1, whilst lead actress Archie Panjabi departed following the series’ penultimate episode.
Anderson, Dornan, Lynch, Waugh, Franciosi, Kane, O'Neill, and Morgan all returned as regulars for the third series, alongside new cast members Aisling Bea, Richard Coyle, Barry Ward, Richard Clements, Ruth Bradley, Genevieve O'Reilly, Aidan McArdle, Denise Gough, Martin McCann, Conor MacNeill and Krister Henriksson. Former main cast members Niamh McGrady, Stuart Graham and Bronagh Taggart returned in guest arcs.
Cubitt was inspired by guitar manufacturing companies when naming some of his characters; Stella, Gibson and Spector are brands of guitar, as are Benedetto, Brawley, Breedlove, Burns, Eastwood, Hagstrom, James Olson, James Tyler, Kay, Martin, Music Man, Paul Reed Smith, Rick Turner, Stagg, Terry McInturff, and Tom Anderson. [31]
The Fall received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 20 critic reviews were positive for the series one. Its consensus is, "Less sensationalistic and more provocative than most police procedurals, The Fall is unapologetically sexy with pressure-building tension driven by plausible characters and motifs." [38] The Guardian ranked it the tenth best television show of 2013. [39] The second and the third series earned 93% and 64% approval rating, respectively. The third series consensus reads, "The Fall stumbles somewhat in its third season, but still delivers enough to satisfy fans of the show—and slow-burning psychological thrillers in general." [38] The first series has a score of 81 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim". The last series has a score of 60 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [40]
Sophie Gilbert of The Atlantic wrote regarding season three: "[f]or all its psychological, almost literary complexity, it loses much of its narrative steam. It's that great 21st-century phenomenon: a show that's more fun to think about than to watch." [41] Ken Tucker also felt that the show lost its quality, criticized the character development, but found Anderson and Dornan to be "good" and "handsome and skilled" respectively. [42] Reviewing the second season, TV critic Lucy Mangan of The Guardian criticised the writing and the dialogue. However, she praised the performances of Anderson and Dornan. [43] Conversely in a more positive review, Ben Travers of the IndieWire opined that Dornan's portrayal was "both ideal and disappointing." [44] About the first season, David Thomson of The New Republic said: "The BBC's Latest Import is Modern, Chilling, and Groundbreaking." [45] Similarly, Neil Genzlinger writing for The New York Times stated: "It’s a fine show, relying on slow-building tension rather than the gory shock value [...]", but found Anderson's character to be the least developed one in the show. [46]
In the book Crime TV, Streaming Criminology in Popular Culture, Jonathan A Grubb and Chad Posick, assistant professors in the department of criminal justice and criminology at Georgia Southern University, wrote that the show conveyed "a fairly solid understanding of the thinking of a psychopathic killer." They stated that Dornan's performance was "quite convincing." [47] [48]
Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
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2013 | Crime Thriller Awards [49] | The Best Actress Dagger | Gillian Anderson | Nominated |
The Best TV Drama Dagger | The Fall | Nominated | ||
Royal Television Society Craft & Design Awards [50] | Make Up - Drama | Pamela Smyth | Nominated | |
Music - Original Score | David Holmes, Keefus Green | Nominated | ||
2014 | Edgar Allan Poe Awards [51] | Best Television Episode Teleplay | Allan Cubitt | Won |
Broadcasting Press Guild Awards [52] | Breakthrough Award | Jamie Dornan | Won | |
Best Actress | Gillian Anderson | Nominated | ||
Writer's Award | Allan Cubitt | Nominated | ||
British Academy Television Awards [53] | Best Leading Actor | Jamie Dornan | Nominated | |
Best Mini Series | The Fall | Nominated | ||
British Academy Television Craft Awards | Best Editing: Fiction | Steve Singleton [54] | Won | |
Banff Television Festival Rockie Awards [55] | Best Procedural Drama | The Fall | Nominated | |
Irish Film and Television Awards [56] | Best Television Drama | The Fall | Won | |
Best Lead Actor – Television | Jamie Dornan | Won | ||
Best Original Score (Film/TV Drama) | David Holmes | Won | ||
Director of Photography - Drama | Ruairi O'Brien | Nominated | ||
Make-Up & Hair - Drama | The Fall | Nominated | ||
Production Design - Drama | Tom McCullough | Nominated | ||
2015 | Satellite Awards [57] | Best Actress – Television Series Drama | Gillian Anderson | Nominated |
Best Television Series – Drama | The Fall | Nominated | ||
Monte-Carlo Television Festival Awards [58] | Golden Nymph Award for Best Actress - Television Drama Series | Gillian Anderson | Nominated | |
Golden Nymph Award for Best Drama Series | The Fall | Nominated | ||
Irish Film and Television Awards [59] [60] | Best Supporting Actress - Drama | Aisling Franciosi | Won | |
Best Actor - Drama | Jamie Dornan | Nominated | ||
Best Television Drama | The Fall | Nominated | ||
British Screenwriters Awards [61] | Best British Crime Writing | Allan Cubitt | Won | |
British Academy Television Craft Awards | Best Editing: Fiction | Steve Singleton [62] | Nominated | |
Royal Television Society Northern Ireland Awards [63] | Best Drama | The Fall | Nominated | |
Sichuan Television Festival [64] | Best Actress | Gillian Anderson | Nominated | |
C21 International Drama Awards [65] | Best Female Performance | Nominated | ||
Best Male Performance | Jamie Dornan | Nominated | ||
Best Returning Series | The Fall | Nominated | ||
Best English Language Drama | Nominated | |||
2016 | Jupiter Award [66] | Best International TV Series | Nominated | |
2017 | Satellite Awards [67] | Best Television Series – Drama | Nominated | |
Irish Film and Television Awards [68] | Best Drama | Nominated | ||
Webby Awards [69] | Best Actress | Gillian Anderson | Won |
The first series was made available in full in the United States via Netflix's "Watch Instantly" service starting 28 May 2013, [70] and aired on Bravo and Netflix in Canada.
The second series was broadcast on Netflix's "Watch Instantly" service, starting in January 2015, in the United States. It was also broadcast on Netflix in Canada. [71] In Latin America, Netflix began broadcasting the season on 16 January 2015, at 12:01 am. [72]
The third series was made available to non-UK Netflix subscribers on 29 October 2016. [73]
The complete series was released in the US on DVD and Blu-Ray by Acorn on 21 November 2017.
Series | Originally aired | DVD release dates | Blu-ray disc release date | ||||||
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First aired | Last aired | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | Region A | Region B | |||
1 | 13 May 2013 | 10 June 2013 | 15 October 2013 [74] | 17 June 2013 [75] | 20 November 2013 [76] | 1 March 2016 [77] | 17 June 2013 [78] | ||
2 | 13 November 2014 [13] | 17 December 2014 | TBA | 26 December 2014 [79] | TBA | 1 March 2016 [80] | 26 December 2014 [81] |
In August 2016, it was announced that the French private national TV channel TF1 was producing a remake of the series, titled Insoupçonnable ("unsuspected"). The French adaptation starred Emmanuelle Seigner and Melvil Poupaud as the leads, and supporting cast included: Jean-Hugues Anglade, Claire Keim, Patrick Chesnais, Bérengère Krief and Sofia Essaïdi. Filming began in Lyon on 12 September 2016. [82]
Gillian Leigh Anderson is an American actress, writer, and activist. She is best known for her roles as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the sci-fi series The X-Files, Lily Bart in the drama film The House of Mirth (2000), DSI Stella Gibson in the BBC/RTÉ crime drama series The Fall (2013–2016), Jean Milburn in the Netflix comedy drama series Sex Education (2019–2023), and Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season of the Netflix drama series The Crown (2020). Among other honors, she has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards.
David Holmes is a musician and composer from Northern Ireland. He worked as a DJ before releasing several solo albums that incorporated elements of trip hop, big beat, rock and electronic music. In the late 1990s, he also began composing film scores, establishing a long-standing collaboration with director Steven Soderbergh that includes Out of Sight (1998) and the Ocean's trilogy.
James Peter Maxwell Dornan is an actor, model, and musician from Northern Ireland. The recipient of two Irish Film and Television Awards, he has been nominated for a BAFTA Television Award and a Golden Globe Award. In 2020, he was named one of Ireland's greatest film actors by The Irish Times.
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Detective Superintendent (DSU) Stella Gibson is the main character in the crime drama television series The Fall, which is filmed and set in Northern Ireland. She is portrayed by Gillian Anderson.
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The BBC is clamping down on spoilers ahead of its transmission, expected in November, but Cubitt said he "wasn't giving anything away" by flagging up the "growing obsession" between the hunter and the hunted.