Dice (TV mini-series)
Encyclopedia
Dice is a Canada/UK co-produced drama
television mini-series. It was directed by Rachel Talalay
and written by A. L. Kennedy
and John Burnside
, inspired by cult 70s novel The Dice Man
by Luke Rhinehart.
), who manipulates people by teaching them how to live by the throw of a dice. When the small community is shattered by the death of student Sally Quine, Detective Patrick Styvesant (Martin Cummins
) finds himself drawn deeper into a bizarre world where decisions are ruled by the dice. As Taylor's influence over the community deepens, Patrick also has his own demons to contend with as he battles alcoholism and his repressed homosexuality, all of which make him a perfect target for Taylor.
: Best Dramatic Series (producers Lorraine Richard, Greg Dummett, Gub Neal) and Best Actor in a Drama (Martin Cummins
).
in Canada and Box TV in the UK. It debuted on The Movie Network
in Eastern Canada and on Movie Central
in Western Canada in November 2001, and was originally aired as a six-episode season.
The series was filmed in Montreal
over 45 days from May to July 5, 2001. It was shot on Super 16
by DOP Jean-Pierre Trudel. The leading cast included British actors (Aidan Gillen
from Queer as Folk
and Gina McKee
) as well as Canadian actors (Martin Cummins
, Callum Keith Rennie
, Brendan Fletcher
, Mark McKinney
, actor/jazz singer Dorothée Berryman
, Gary Farmer
), plus U.S. actor Fred Ward
. The budget was $6 million.
A second six-hour season was planned to be filmed in the fall of 2002 but was never shot further to production issues.
as a 2 x 102 mins two-parter instead of the original 6 x 34 mins episodes.
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
television mini-series. It was directed by Rachel Talalay
Rachel Talalay
-Filmography:* Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare * Ghost in the Machine * Tank Girl -Television credits:* Ally McBeal* Boston Public* Cold Case* Crossing Jordan* The Dead Zone* Dice* The Division...
and written by A. L. Kennedy
A. L. Kennedy
Alison Louise Kennedy is a Scottish writer of novels, short stories and non-fiction. She is known for a characteristically dark tone, a blending of realism and fantasy, and for her serious approach to her work...
and John Burnside
John Burnside
John Burnside is a Scottish writer, born in Dunfermline.-Background:Burnside studied English and European Languages at Cambridge College of Arts and Technology. A former computer software engineer, he has been a freelance writer since 1996...
, inspired by cult 70s novel The Dice Man
The Dice Man
The Dice Man is a novel published in 1971 by George Cockcroft under the pen name Luke Rhinehart and tells the story of a psychiatrist who begins making life decisions based on the casting of dice. Cockcroft wrote the book based on his own experiences of using dice to make decisions while studying...
by Luke Rhinehart.
Plot
Dice tells the story of charismatic psychology teacher, Glenn Taylor (Aidan GillenAidan Gillen
Aidan Gillen is an Irish stage and screen actor and television presenter. He is known in Ireland for his role in Love/Hate, in the UK for his role in Queer as Folk and in the US for his role in HBO's television series The Wire in which he plays Tommy Carcetti and for his role in Game of Thrones as...
), who manipulates people by teaching them how to live by the throw of a dice. When the small community is shattered by the death of student Sally Quine, Detective Patrick Styvesant (Martin Cummins
Martin Cummins
Martin Cummins is a Canadian actor known for his role as Ames White in Dark Angel . He attended the Vancouver Actors Studio where he trained under Mel Tuck, a highly respected pioneer of Canadian theatre...
) finds himself drawn deeper into a bizarre world where decisions are ruled by the dice. As Taylor's influence over the community deepens, Patrick also has his own demons to contend with as he battles alcoholism and his repressed homosexuality, all of which make him a perfect target for Taylor.
Main cast
- Martin CumminsMartin CumminsMartin Cummins is a Canadian actor known for his role as Ames White in Dark Angel . He attended the Vancouver Actors Studio where he trained under Mel Tuck, a highly respected pioneer of Canadian theatre...
as Patrick Styvesant - Aidan GillenAidan GillenAidan Gillen is an Irish stage and screen actor and television presenter. He is known in Ireland for his role in Love/Hate, in the UK for his role in Queer as Folk and in the US for his role in HBO's television series The Wire in which he plays Tommy Carcetti and for his role in Game of Thrones as...
as Glenn Taylor - Gina McKeeGina McKeeGeorgina "Gina" McKee is an English actor known for her television roles in Our Friends in the North , The Lost Prince and The Forsyte Saga ; and her portrayal of Bella in the film Notting Hill ....
as Angela Starck - Fred WardFred WardFreddie Joe "Fred" Ward is an American actor. He began his career in 1979 alongside Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz. He is best known for his starring roles in the motion pictures Remo Williams, Tremors, Henry & June, Short Cuts, The Right Stuff and Exit Speed...
as Gacy - Brendan FletcherBrendan FletcherBrendan Fletcher is a Canadian actor.-Life and career:Fletcher was born in Comox Valley, British Columbia and went to junior high school at Lake Trail in Courtenay, British Columbia....
as Alasdair MacCrae - Callum Keith RennieCallum Keith RennieCallum Keith Rennie is a British-born Canadian television and film actor. He started his career in Canadian film and television projects, where his portrayal of Stanley Raymond Kowalski in the TV series Due South was his first international success...
as Egon Schwimmer - Tracy WrightTracy WrightTracy Wright was a Canadian actress who was known for her stage and film performances, as well as her presence in Canada's avant-garde for over 20 years...
as Gil
Awards
Dice was nominated twice for 2002 Gemini awardsGemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
: Best Dramatic Series (producers Lorraine Richard, Greg Dummett, Gub Neal) and Best Actor in a Drama (Martin Cummins
Martin Cummins
Martin Cummins is a Canadian actor known for his role as Ames White in Dark Angel . He attended the Vancouver Actors Studio where he trained under Mel Tuck, a highly respected pioneer of Canadian theatre...
).
Production
Dice was co-produced by Cité-Amérique and Showcase TelevisionShowcase Television
Showcase is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Shaw Media. Showcase is a predominantly fiction-based service centred around scripted television series and films....
in Canada and Box TV in the UK. It debuted on The Movie Network
The Movie Network
The Movie Network is a Canadian English language Category A premium television service, owned by Astral Media. The service is licensed to operate east of the Ontario-Manitoba border, excluding the territories...
in Eastern Canada and on Movie Central
Movie Central
Movie Central is a Canadian English language Category A premium television service. Movie Central is designated to operate west of the Ontario-Manitoba border, including the territories...
in Western Canada in November 2001, and was originally aired as a six-episode season.
The series was filmed in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
over 45 days from May to July 5, 2001. It was shot on Super 16
16 mm film
16 mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical film making. 16 mm refers to the width of the film...
by DOP Jean-Pierre Trudel. The leading cast included British actors (Aidan Gillen
Aidan Gillen
Aidan Gillen is an Irish stage and screen actor and television presenter. He is known in Ireland for his role in Love/Hate, in the UK for his role in Queer as Folk and in the US for his role in HBO's television series The Wire in which he plays Tommy Carcetti and for his role in Game of Thrones as...
from Queer as Folk
Queer as Folk (UK TV series)
Queer as Folk is a 1999 British television series that chronicles the lives of three gay men living in Manchester's gay village around Canal Street. Both Queer as Folk and Queer as Folk 2 were written by Russell T Davies...
and Gina McKee
Gina McKee
Georgina "Gina" McKee is an English actor known for her television roles in Our Friends in the North , The Lost Prince and The Forsyte Saga ; and her portrayal of Bella in the film Notting Hill ....
) as well as Canadian actors (Martin Cummins
Martin Cummins
Martin Cummins is a Canadian actor known for his role as Ames White in Dark Angel . He attended the Vancouver Actors Studio where he trained under Mel Tuck, a highly respected pioneer of Canadian theatre...
, Callum Keith Rennie
Callum Keith Rennie
Callum Keith Rennie is a British-born Canadian television and film actor. He started his career in Canadian film and television projects, where his portrayal of Stanley Raymond Kowalski in the TV series Due South was his first international success...
, Brendan Fletcher
Brendan Fletcher
Brendan Fletcher is a Canadian actor.-Life and career:Fletcher was born in Comox Valley, British Columbia and went to junior high school at Lake Trail in Courtenay, British Columbia....
, Mark McKinney
Mark McKinney
Mark Douglas Brown McKinney is a Canadian comedian and actor, best known for his work in the sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall. Following the run of their television series and feature film , he went on to star in Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 1997...
, actor/jazz singer Dorothée Berryman
Dorothée Berryman
Dorothée Berryman is a noted Canadian actress and singer.- Biography :Born in Quebec City, Quebec, she has played roles in many stage productions, films, and television series including The Red Violin, Rivière-des-Jérémie, Le Déclin de l'empire américain, Les Invasions barbares, Scanners II: The...
, Gary Farmer
Gary Farmer
- History :Farmer was born in Ohsweken, Ontario into the Cayuga nation and Wolf Clan of the Haudenosaunee/Iroquois Confederacy. Farmer attended Syracuse University and Ryerson Polytechnic University, where he studied photography and film production....
), plus U.S. actor Fred Ward
Fred Ward
Freddie Joe "Fred" Ward is an American actor. He began his career in 1979 alongside Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz. He is best known for his starring roles in the motion pictures Remo Williams, Tremors, Henry & June, Short Cuts, The Right Stuff and Exit Speed...
. The budget was $6 million.
A second six-hour season was planned to be filmed in the fall of 2002 but was never shot further to production issues.
DVD
Dice was released in DVD in 2007 by Digital Classics DVDDigital Classics DVD
Digital Classics DVD Limited is a UK-based DVD label which releases titles in the UK and worldwide across a range of genres: music, arts, documentaries, dramas and classic British comedy...
as a 2 x 102 mins two-parter instead of the original 6 x 34 mins episodes.
Episodes
| # | Original air date | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | After the discovery of Sally Quine's tortured and mutilated body in small town 'Harmony', Detective Patrick Styvesant is assigned to the investigation. Alasdair MacCrae, Sally's boyfriend and the initial suspect, hides in a motel, tracked by private detective Gacy. Visiting Sally's university, Styvesant learns about a game popular with the students: making a list of six possible actions and letting a dice decide which one to take. Psychology teacher Glenn Taylor has introduced the dice game to the students and to other people - among which, mentally disturbed Egon Schwimmer who bursts into the squad room razor in hand and confesses to Sally's murder. Styvesant finds and interrogates Gacy who claims he lost track of Alasdair. Styvesant secretly follows him to the murder scene where Gacy just discovered a button that the police have missed. | |
| 2 | While a masked intruder assaults Alasdair in his motel room, Gacy manages to get rid of Styvesant. Marcus Starck, college hockey coach and another dice addict, argues with his wife Angela, and leaves for a bar where he's met by Taylor who tells him the dice will help him find the winning way. Meanwhile, Angela receives an anonymous phone call about Sally's murder. In jail, Egon gets increasingly antsy without his dice. Stuyvesant and Taylor have a bonding moment in a bar. Gacy tracks Alasdair in the woods and brings him to the police. Styvesant arrests them both. | |
| 3 | After Styvesant has released them, Alasdair and Gacy are confronted by ‘the Colonel’ who hired Gacy to bring Alasdair back on the right path and now fires him. Alasdair agrees to team up with Gacy to catch Sally's murderer. During a dice session led by Taylor, insecure Sam Cutter seeks the dice's help but leaves when Egon shows up, demanding his seat back; Taylor catches up with him and convinces him that the dice will set him free. Styvesant visits Taylor at his house to get some explanations, but is distracted by Taylor's flirting. When Gacy and Angela meet at the police station, Gacy instantly falls for her. Cutter has bad luck with the dice. | |
| 4 | Gacy spots Taylor visiting Angela and warns her to be wary of the guy. Egon cleans up to go to a hooker bar and brings a girl back to his place, all the time watched by two policemen. In another bar, Gacy tries to offer his help to Styvesant; after he leaves, Styvesant has a go at dice to decide if he should fight his urge for alcohol or not, and ends up drunk. A new murder victim is discovered while Angela is kidnapped by a masked man. | |
| 5 | Waking in a strange place, Angela finds out she knows her kidnapper. Styvesant accepts Gacy's help to find Angela. Egon is the prime suspect for the latest murder. Stuyvesant finds out the hard way he has definite enemies in the police. Angela resorts to desperate measures to escape from her captor. | |
| 6 | After Angela is rescued, she has flashbacks, and then memories from her ordeal. Egon gives a six-numbered list to Styvesant. Taylor has left town; a Christian family distraught further to the loss of a child welcomes him and his comforting words. Although Styvesant has been ordered to take some vacation, he continues his investigation and comes upon some suspicious invoices in the police station. This sets him back on the killer's track. | |