We've taken the last couple of days off to rest our weary souls after the Rasta jag, but we'll be back tomorrow with guns-a-blazin' and new cool posts. Until then, here's an extremely clean and easily downloadable x264 rip of Cracker. It's for those that need a Fitz fix. We should all need a Fitz fix. Out.
From The Unofficial Guide to Cracker:
For the second series, in 1994, Cracker's run was extended to nine episodes - three stories of three episodes each. The quality, again, was extremely high, although the second story (about a suburban cult surrounding a school headmaster who was having an affair with one of his students) was noticeably the weakest of the three (and the first not to have been written by the shows creator, Jimmy McGovern). The first story, To Be A Somebody, risked controversy again with its treatment of a difficult subject - the Hillsborough disaster of 1989. It was a subject close to McGovern's heart, which he later further developed as a separate docu-drama. The result was arguably the best and most moving Cracker story, helped by an award winning performance by Robert Carlyle as Albie. Once again, the story pulled off the balance between understanding Albie's story and his suffering, and seeing the horrific results of his crime. This time the damage hit closer to home - because Albie's third victim was Bilborough himself. In an intensely dramatic and painful sequence, Bilborough is led to Albie's flat and stabbed by him, dying within minutes while his colleagues desperately race to reach him. Ironically DS Beck had already interviewed Albie and let him go, so he was partly to blame for the death.
The episode shocked regular and casual viewers alike, and the repercussions of Bilborough's death lasted well beyond the end of the story. Bilborough's replacement was DCI Wise, a more experienced officer than Bilborough, a more confident personality. Played by Ricky Tomlinson, Wise brought some more humour to the show and developed a more affable relationship with Fitz. While Fitz, Wise and Penhaligon began to work more closely together, Beck became increasingly isolated, racked with guilt over the death of Bilborough. In story three of the second series, Men Should Weep, his emotional turmoil spills over into violence. During a series of rapes, Beck himself puts on a mask identical to the one the rapist wears and rapes Penhaligon, threatening her with a knife. Penhaligon's reaction to the rape and then to the discovery that her attacker was Beck is extremely well played by Geraldine Somerville, and the storylines is sensitively handled in a serial that is another strong contender for the best Cracker story.
Episode 1 Technical Information:
Show Title: Cracker
Season: 2
Year: 1994
Episode Title: 1. To Be a Somebody
Country: UK
Source: DVD Retail
Video Codec: 480p x264
Container: .mkv
Size: 2.31 GB
Length: 2:28:03
Programs used: DVD Decrypter, RipBot
Resolution: 720x576
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Video: MPEG4 AVC H264 @ ~2048 kb/s
Frame Rate: 25 fps
Audio: English- Dolby AC3 Stereo @ 192 kb/s
Subtitles: None
Synopsis: A Pakistani shopkeeper is killed and a skinhead seen leaving the premises. The police are at first convinced that it is a racist killing until a white, English psychologist helping out with the case and DCI Billborough are murdered by the same man. Fitz, while facing his own problems with his family and a hurt Penhaligon, is brought in to investigate, convinced that the killer is not a mere racist hood but actually an ordinary citizen gone horribly wrong.
To Be a Somebody Megaupload Links
Episode 2 Technical Information:
Show Title: Cracker
Season: 2
Year: 1994
Episode Title: 2. The Big Crunch
Country: UK
Source: DVD Retail
Video Codec: 480p x264
Container: .mkv
Size: 2.31 GB
Length: 2:27.43
Programs used: DVD Decrypter, RipBot
Resolution: 720x576
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Video: MPEG4 AVC H264 @ ~2048 kb/s
Frame Rate: 25 fps
Audio: English- Dolby AC3 Stereo @ 192 kb/s
Subtitles: None
Synopsis: A young girl missing for several days is discovered naked, covered in strange symbols and quoting the Bible. The trail leads to a fringe Christian sect and its charismatic leader.
The Big Crunch Megaupload Links
Episode 3 Technical Information:
Show Title: Cracker
Season: 2
Year: 1994
Episode Title: 3. Men Should Weep
Country: UK
Source: DVD Retail
Video Codec: 480p x264
Container: .mkv
Size: 2.32 GB
Length: 2:28:34
Programs used: DVD Decrypter, RipBot
Resolution: 720x576
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Video: MPEG4 AVC H264 @ ~2048 kb/s
Frame Rate: 25 fps
Audio: English- Dolby AC3 Stereo @ 192 kb/s
Subtitles: None
Synopsis: The case of a serial rapist who wears a mask, yet tries to develop a relationship with his victims strikes at the heart of Fitz's personal and professional life when Penhaligon is raped and the rapist, apparently acting on Fitz's advice, starts to kill as well. Meanwhile, Penhaligon begins to discover a connection between her rapist and Jimmy Beck.
Men Should Week Megaupload Links
(Use JDownloader to speed up downloading and avoid file stalls.)
Complete Series 2 Megaupload Links
Season 1