Touching Evil (1997-1999) is an ITV Police Procedural 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 Near-Death Experience in which he was shot in the head, who in the first episode is partnered with DI Susan Taylor (Nicola Walker).
The series was given a short-lived adaptation on American television by USA Network in 2004, with Jeffrey Donovan as Creegan and Vera Farmiga as Susan Branca.
Not to be confused with the film Touch of Evil. Shares many parallels with Luther.
Touching Evil contains the following tropes:
- Amicable Exes: Creegan and his ex-wife Kerry.
- Consulting a Convicted Killer / Recruiting the Criminal: 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.
- Cowboy Cop: Creegan has no problem with flouting the law and police procedure in order to solve cases. This ends up being deconstructed when his methods make it next to impossible to prosecute Ronald Hinks, at which point Creegan very nearly turns into a Killer Cop.
- Da Chief: Commander Stephen Enwright in the UK version and Hank Enright in the US version.
- Death Seeker: The murderer in the "Killing with Kindness" arc ultimately turns out to be this. And she decides to form a bond with Creegan upon realizing that he is one too.
- Killer Cop: Kreitman/Krakauer.
- Near-Death Experience: Creegan was nearly killed on the job a year prior the series. 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.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Elizabeth Walker resuscitated a young girl named Julie Carney after her suicide attempt. In return, obsessive Death Seeker 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.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: 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.
- Serial Killer: The OSC's targets more often than not.
