YMMV / Cracker

• Contested Sequel: The 2006 special Nine Eleven, aka A New Terror, where an Army veteran resentful about The War on Terror goes on a killing spree targeting Americans. Some find it a clever updating of Cracker for the 21st Century, showing how Fitz reacts to the new Manchester and a younger generation of investigators, while including the show's usual social commentary. Others consider it an Anvilicious waste of time, with the political message overwhelming the story, while replacing old characters like Penhaligon and Wise with a forgettable cast of newcomers. Even so, it's better-regarded than the Hong Kong-set 1996 special White Ghost, which is almost universally hated by Cracker fans.
• Evil Is Cool: Averted. The killers are always shown to be petty, psychologically damaged, or brutish thugs.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: In "To Be a Somebody", Bilborough shows a skinhead the non-British members of the Manchester United Squad, including Eric Cantona, would later appear opposite Christopher Eccleston in Elizabeth.
  • Weirdly, this exact moment manages to give rise to a second Hilarious in Hindsight: Bilborough points out the hypocrisy of a far-right skinhead supporting a football team whose line-up includes black players and players from abroad, including Cantona. The year after the episode aired, Cantona kicked a man who turned out to be a member of the National Front, a far-right organisation.
• Retroactive Recognition: This show gave a big boost to the careers of some now very famous people:
  • Robert Carlyle's first high-profile role was the main villain of "To Be a Somebody".
  • Samantha Morton appears as a missing girl in "The Big Crunch".
  • "Best Boys" has Liam Cunningham and John Simm as a gay couple who turn to crime.
  • Geraldine Somerville later appeared in the Harry Potter films as Lily Potter, alongside (who else) Robbie Coltrane.
  • Jim Carter's turn as Kenneth Trant in "The Big Crunch" is incredibly creepy if you've seen his later role as Carson in Downton Abbey—his mannerisms are nearly identical in both roles, but applied for vastly different ends (creepy and hypocritical leader of a cultish sect in one, stern but honest and kindhearted butler in the other).
  • Michael Trant from "The Big Crunch" three-parter is played by James Fleet, who would later be best known for playing Hugo Horton in The Vicar of Dibley.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Last thing we heard about Penhaligon, she'd finally gotten her promotion. Imagine Fitz working for Panhandle as Da Chief.

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