Detective Inspector Charlie Resnick is the protagonist of a series of twelve

police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eithe ...

novels by British writer

John Harvey John Harvey may refer to: People Academics * John Harvey (astrologer) (1564–1592), English astrologer and physician *John Harvey (architectural historian) (1911–1997), British architectural historian, who wrote on English Gothic architecture ...

, based in the city of

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

. Resnick is of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

descent and loves

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es and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

. The first novel in the series, ''Lonely Hearts'' was published in 1989, and was named by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

'' as one of the "100 Greatest Crime Novels of the Century". What was believed to be the final novel in the series, ''Last Rites'', was published in 1998. However, in an interview on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

on 7 November 2006 John Harvey mentioned that he was working on a new novel in the Resnick series. In an interview with the BBC on 20 October 2007, it was confirmed that the novel would be entitled ''Cold in Hand'' and would see Resnick retire from the police force. ''Cold in Hand'' was published in 2008. The final novel ''Darkness, Darkness'' was released in 2013.

The Resnick series

Adaptations

Television

There were two TV movies made about Resnick, based on ''Lonely Hearts'' and ''Rough Treatment'', for the BBC in 1992 and 1993, starring Academy Award nominee

Tom Wilkinson Thomas Geoffrey Wilkinson (born 5 February 1948)Born January–March 1948, according to the ''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com is an English actor of film, television, and stage. He has rece ...

as the character. Screenplays for both were written by Harvey himself.

Radio

Some of the novels have been adapted for radio, with Harvey himself also writing original radio plays featuring the character. They often appear in the rotation on

BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British Digital radio in the United Kingdom, digital radio broadcasting, radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a ...

. Numerous actors played Resnick, including Tom Wilkinson, reprising his role from the TV series. The adaptations included: *''Wasted Years'' (1995) - Starring Tom Wilkinson. *''Cutting Edge'' (1996) - Starring

Tom Georgeson Tom Georgeson (born 8 August 1937) is an English actor, known for his television and film work. His most notable credits have been supporting parts in '' Between the Lines'' (1992–94) and in three dramas by Alan Bleasdale: '' Boys from the B ...

. *''Slow Burn'' (1998) - Starring Philip Jackson. *''Cheryl'' (2001) - Starring

Keith Barron Keith Barron (8 August 1934 – 15 November 2017) was an English actor and television presenter who appeared in films and on television from 1961 until 2017. His television roles included the police drama '' The Odd Man'', the sitcom '' Duty Fr ...

. *''Bird of Paradise'' (2002) - Starring Keith Barron. Sean Baker appeared in all the plays as Sergeant Graham Millington.

References

Resnick, Charlie Resnick, Charlie Novels set in Nottinghamshire {{novel-char-stub