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Context Series / TouchingEvil

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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/touching_evil.jpg]]
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3''Touching Evil'' (1997-1999) is an Creator/{{ITV}} PoliceProcedural following the Organised & Serial Crime Unit, or OSC, a crack team of investigators tasked with tracking down some of the most depraved individuals in the country. Its lead inspector is DI Dave Creegan (Robson Green), a man who was previously sectioned after a NearDeathExperience in which he was shot in the head, who in the first episode is partnered with DI Susan Taylor (Creator/NicolaWalker).
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5The series was given a short-lived adaptation on American television by Creator/USANetwork in 2004, with Creator/JeffreyDonovan as Creegan and Creator/VeraFarmiga as [[AdaptationalNameChange Susan Branca]].
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7Not to be confused with the film ''Film/TouchOfEvil''. Shares many parallels with ''Series/{{Luther}}''.
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10!!''Touching Evil'' contains the following tropes:
11* AmicableExes: Creegan and his ex-wife Kerry.
12* ConsultingAConvictedKiller / RecruitingTheCriminal: In the Amathus arc, the OSC consults and ultimately temporarily recruits convicted murderer Justine Barber when it turns out the murders they are investigating are inspired by her own.
13* CowboyCop: Creegan has no problem with flouting the law and police procedure in order to solve cases. [[spoiler:This ends up being [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]] when his methods make it next to impossible to prosecute Ronald Hinks, at which point Creegan very nearly turns into a KillerCop.]]
14* DaChief: Commander Stephen Enwright in the UK version and Hank Enright in the US version.
15* DeathSeeker: The murderer in the "Killing with Kindness" arc ultimately turns out to be this. [[spoiler:And she decides to form a bond with Creegan upon realizing that he is one too.]]
16* KillerCop: [[spoiler:Kreitman/Krakauer]].
17* NearDeathExperience: Creegan was nearly killed on the job a year prior the series. [[spoiler:This becomes a plot point in the second arc when the killer (who nearly died in a suicide attempt) targets hospital patients who also had near-death experiences and finds herself identifying with Creegan.]]
18* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Elizabeth Walker resuscitated a young girl named Julie Carney after her suicide attempt. [[spoiler:In return, obsessive DeathSeeker Julie took a job at Elizabeth's hospital, followed her with every transfer, and ultimately attempted to frame her for her murders as revenge for saving her life.]]
19* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:Creegan's methods for saving the three children kidnapped by Ronald Hinks means that Hinks is unprosecutable and will be free to offend again, which in turn leads to Kreitman killing Hinks in an act of vigilantism. Then the OSC team's mutual habit of keeping each other out of the loop ultimately enables Kreitman to kill another suspect.]]

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