“A
hard-hitting, sometimes foolhardy,
rough-and-ready middle-aged Irish
ex-cop who dares to tread where the
Police cannot go; yet dealing with
his clients with compassion and
understanding —
that’s
the brilliant
Jack Taylor, and the bad guys better
beware...”
TAKE
AN IRISH EX-COP WITH NERVES OF STEEL and a strong sense of justice and put him
in controversial situations as a private detective, a finder, where it takes
everything he's got to fight for the good of his clients. This is Jack Taylor,
aired on Channel 5 on 21 February (2013) for three weeks and based on the acclaimed
crime novels by Ken Bruen.
Jack Taylor (the outstanding Iain Glen: Game Of Thrones; Downton Abbey)
is nobody's fool. On the wrong side of forty, he stubbornly helps the underdog;
looking where nobody else looks, talking to those nobody else talks to, sifting
through clues that have been missed. And he knows every avenue and alleyway
in his hometown like the back of his hand.
“Jack Taylor:
well-paced, well-cast,
compulsive
and gritty...”
Dismissed
from the An Garda Slochana after assaulting a politician, Jack is an unconventional
hero who has cleaned himself up after a drink problem and who is prepared to
dig deep to solve each case. Jack Taylor Collection One consists of three
stories, all of which are well-paced, well-cast, compulsive and gritty.
The Guards is the first of the three stories, in which Jack meets the
lovely Anne Henderson (Tara Breathnach), whose teenaged daughter has disappeared
and she wants Jack to look for her. The bodies of four girls turn up in the
river and at first it looks as if there has been a spate of suicides, but Jack
uncovers a seedy side of Galway's middle class that involves illegal sex videos
and a desperate need to cover up misdeeds.
Jack's surrogate father and the barman of The Crane Bar, Sean (Barry Cassin),
is killed in mysterious circumstances and Jack, who is being helped by his old
artist friend Sutton (Ralph Brown), is badly beaten up. Everything Jack has
ever believed in begins to unravel and he starts to doubt even those closest
to him.
In The Pikemen, Jack has been away for a year and comes back to his beloved
Galway clean and sober. Before long he finds himself involved in a case with
The Pikemen, a group of vigilantes who have named themselves after old Irish
Freedom Fighters and who take the law into their own hands by meting out punishment
where the judicial system fails.
A man falls from scaffolding and it is certain he has been murdered, but that
is the least of Jack's troubles. He is helped by young Cody Farraher (Kilian
Scott: Love/Hate), who sees Jack as something of a hero, and when he
meets Anne again she is in an abusive relationship with a local businessman,
who is then murdered. Jack is framed for the crime and is supported by Garda
Kate Noonan (Nora-Jane Noon), as he tries to clear himself.
Maggie McCarthy (Darine Ni Dhonnchadha), the daughter of a former inmate of
St Monica's — one of the infamous Magdalen Laundries —
during the 1960's, hires Jack to track down a sadistic nun, whom the girls called
Lucifer, in The Magdalen Martyrs.
The murder of two young boys may be related and Jack is also warned off by local
criminal Bill Cassell. The disappearance of church records hinders his search;
but after a well-kept fifty-year-old family secret is revealed he is led to
the home of Rita Monroe (Stella McCusker) who may have the answer.
A fantastic and enjoyable series with more to come, Jack Taylor Collection
One also features: Frank O'Sullivan as Superintendent Clancy; Bill Cassell
as Liam Carney; and Aine Ni Mhuiri as Mrs Taylor.
Original Music is by Stephen McKeon; Scriptwriter is Marteinn Thorisson; Director
of Photography is John Conroy; Producer is Clodah Freeman; and Director is Stuart
Orme (The Lost World).
*
Set
in Galway, Ireland, Jack Taylor Collection One is a must-see series of
three initial stories and is released on DVD as a three-disc set, courtesy of
Acorn Media, on 11 March 2013. Catalogue Number: AV3114 | Running Time: 281
Minutes Approximately on three discs | RRP: £25.99.
Special Features: Interview With Director Stuart Orme | Iain Glen Filmography
| Ken Bruen Biography | Picture Gallery.
"Jack Taylor Collection One… well-paced, well-cast, compulsive and gritty"
—Maggie Woods, MotorBar
“A
hard-hitting, sometimes foolhardy,