Before True Blood: Stephen Moyer in Ultraviolet

Stephen Moyer has gained plenty of attention as Bill Compton on True Blood in the last couple of years, but did you know this is not the first time Moyer has played a vampire? He also sported fangs twelve years ago in another cult favorite, the British sci-fi series Ultraviolet.

The cast of Ultraviolet

Produced in 1998 for UK broadcaster Channel 4, the series by writer-director Joe Ahearne (This Life, Strange, Doctor Who) was a sleek, chilling and above all, brainy modern translation of the vampire myth. Moyer is Jack Beresford, the partner and best friend of London cop Michael Colefield (FlashForward‘s Jack Davenport).

The series opens on the eve of Jack’s wedding to Kirsty (Colette Brown), except he never shows up for the ceremony the following day. Instead, Michael discovers that his partner is not only corrupt, but is part of a worldwide vampire conspiracy. Michael is somewhat reluctantly recruited into a paramilitary unit dedicating to stopping the vamps, which also includes Luther‘s Idris Elba, Philip Quast, and Susannah Harker. It’s six episodes of the best sci-fi I’ve ever seen.

Moyer only appears in two episodes (and to tell you which two would be spoiling), but he plays Michael’s friend-turned-foe perfectly. He’s cheeky and charming when we meet him, showing us why Jack and Michael are not just professional partners, but friends; yet as soon as Michael realizes Jack’s true nature, Jack’s attitude takes on a whole new spin, practically dripping cocky malice. He becomes the man you love to hate, even when he’s not physically there. He’s the predecessor to Moyer’s work as Bill. Except Jack has some really ridiculous hair.

Stephen Moyer in Ultraviolet

Beyond that, the show itself is simply outstanding. It establishes a whole new set of rules for the vampire myth that take it away from the fantastic and ground it in reality. In fact, the word “vampire” is never spoken through the entire six episodes. Ultraviolet is still dark and creepy, but it’s much more modern and realistic than anything in the genre I’ve seen before or since.

Ultraviolet also has a top-flight cast. Davenport is note-perfect in his depiction of the conflicted Michael, who doesn’t exactly agree with either camp in a battle he can’t completely comprehend, and his scenes with Moyer crackle with energy and frustration on both sides. Elba, who went on to critical acclaim as Russell “Stringer” Bell on HBO’s The Wire, gives yet another outstanding performance in the role of Vaughan Rice, the team’s
hardened soldier. The two are backed up well by Harker as Dr. Angie March, whose own family has fallen victim to the invasion (in real life, Harker is herself a descendant of Jonathon Harker, a friend of Bram Stoker who was immortalized in Dracula) and Quast, who plays team leader Pearse Harman with a genial touch that hides a brilliant mind. There’s also a great turn by the late Corin Redgrave as a villain later in the series.

FOX attempted a US remake of the show with Elba and Madchen Amick, overseen by 24‘s Howard Gordon, but it was not picked up. That’s a good thing, as Howard has publicity admitted in an interview with Science Fiction Weekly, “Frankly, we screwed that up.” Thankfully, you can still get the original version on DVD at Amazon: $23.49 is a steal for what I consider to be one of the five best TV series of all time.