Hulu Plus Weekend Binge: 'Waking The Dead'

If you've spent any time watching British television, you already know that some of the best police and crime procedurals in the world come from the U.K. The best of the genre tend to be dark, morally ambiguous and sharply acted and written.

One of the best shows of the last twenty years is the long-running series "Waking The Dead." The short description is that it's a police drama about a cold case squad that uses modern technology to solve nearly forgotten crimes. But that logline only hints at the wonderfully complex show that awaits viewers.

The squad is led by Detective Superintendent Boyd, played by the wonderfully complex Trevor Eve. Boyd is a complicated and driven man, haunted by the disappearance of his teenage son and by an almost pathological resistance to being told what to do. He assembled a team that generally believes in his leadership and decisions. But it's often a tense relationship and one where the squad members trust each other but are often suspicious of their co-workers motives.

The ensemble is uniformly talented, with every actor providing a pitch-perfect and nuanced performance. Sue Johnston plays psychological profiler Dr Grace Foley, a confident of Boyd's and someone who can often be a voice of calm in the middle of a room filled with very intense personalities. Junior DC Mel Silver (Claire Goose) is the young protege, who often finds herself equally captivated and appalled by Boyd's intensity to each case. Wil Johnson plays Detective Inspector Spencer Jordan, the squad member most likely to stand up to Boyd when he wanders off-case or into dangerous legal waters.

But it's not just the level of acting that makes it worth plowing through all 90 episodes of the show. The writing is as good as any television procedural. The case are complex and often impossible to solve until the last frame of the episode. "Waking The Dead" also was willing to tackle sensitive subjects, ranging from abuse within the Catholic Church, Bosnian war crimes, racism, torture by the military and rampant political corruption. The scope of the show was often ambitious and complex and all those factors make the show a delight to watch from beginning to end.

As is the case in all good TV shows, the nine seasons of the show bring a number of changes to the cast. Characters die, some are killed and other leave after hitting an emotional wall. The changes help amplify the restless pace of "Waking The Dead" and it's one of the reasons that this show is worthy of being discussed in the same conversation as shows such as "The Shield" or "Hill Street Blues." "Waking The Dead" isn't just binge-worthy, it's one of the best police procedurals you'll ever see.

One note: while Hulu Plus includes all nine seasons of the show, you can find seasons one through five on Netflix.