Hunter is a British police drama mini-series produced by the BBC in which Hugh Bonneville and Janet McTeer reprise their roles as the dysfunctional detective double-act following on from the 2007 series Five Days.
When extremists kidnap two seven year-old boys from very different backgrounds and promise to release them only if their radical demands are met, the case falls into the hands of the intuitive and pragmatic Iain Barclay.
The series aired in the UK on BBC One from 18-19 January, 2009. There are two hour-long episodes in the mini-series.
Hunter aired in South Africa on DStv's BBC Entertainment channel on Thursday 5 August and Friday 6 August, 2010, at 20h30.
Synopsis
Writer Mick Ford has taken the engaging and charismatic duo of Det Supt Iain Barclay and DS Amy Foster created by Gwyneth Hughes in the critically acclaimed series Five Days, and put them at the heart of a team of compelling and unpredictable detectives who are faced with a shocking and highly sensitive crime.
When extremists kidnap two seven-year-old boys from very different backgrounds and promise to release them only if their radical demands are met, the case falls into the hands of the intuitive and pragmatic Iain Barclay.
Faced with a relatively inexperienced and increasingly unreliable team, Barclay soon calls his firm friend and faithful deputy Amy Foster out of "early retirement" and away from the bottle to support him in solving what emerges to be a highly sensitive crime.
Foster isn't afraid to ruffle a few feathers to get the job done with her assertive and pragmatic attitude – and instantly begins to whip the team into shape to start piecing together the details of the abductions.
Emails begin to arrive at Barclay's office, which have also been sent to national media, with images attached of the two boys seemingly unconscious – with the word SACRED written on their bodies.
The photos have been sent from untraceable mobile phones hundreds of miles apart and it would appear that there is a network of people involved.
The following morning a package containing the boys' clothing is delivered to the offices of BBC Birmingham, and the fanatics' request is finally revealed to Barclay and his team: show the film of their cause on the national news bulletins, or the boys will be killed.
The clock is ticking for Barclay and his team.
With children's lives at risk, the families' of the boys demanding to know answers, and no leads as to who is behind the abductions, the detectives are faced with a hugely complicated moral dilemma for which there is no easy or comfortable solution.
The drama was produced by Emma Benson, with Jessica Pope and Simon Curtis as Executive Producers. Hunter was directed by Colm McCarthy.