This feature contains spoilers.
There was also this menacing thing bubbling its way into public consciousness.
It was called The Internet.
Now 1998 was long before the advent of sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Consequently, there were few TV dramas that had used the internet as a plot gear.
Today, theyre ten a penny but one of the first was Lynda La PlantesKiller Net.
As the story begins, Scott is your typical on-screen student.
For much of episode one,Killer Netis light on the crime and heavy on theHollyoaks-style drama.
Scotts not really into the idea so heads to internet cafe Techno Cafe.
There he engages in an online chat conversation with a person known as Rich Bitch.
Killer Netshows its age with the scenes involving computers.
Its a nice nostalgia trip to a time when the net wasnt all singing and dancing.
Brent Moyer, played by the intimidating erm, Jason Orange.
Yes,thatJason Orange.
Meanwhile, it seems theres a murky past between Charlie and Joe thats only tantalisingly teased.
To get over his heartbreak Scott immerses himself in the world of getting stoned and online interactive pornography.
The games name is Killer Net.
The show was about to take a very dark turn.
Episode two was the episode centred on the playing of Killer Net.
Scott chooses to play in Brighton where he picks Tracey as his victim in the game.
Along the way it is narrated by the bald-headed, deep-voiced figure known only as Dome.
The night takes a turn for the worst when he discovers that she has flamed him online.
These days it happens with such frequency, we just call it commenting.
The next day a family out for a pleasant afternoon walk discover a body in a disused railway tunnel.
Episode two ofKiller Nethad a bit more going on.
During episode two they began to do things that were a bit more interesting.
Brollys character and performance were an evil mystery.
But as for setting up a range of motives with different characters, Brolly was spot on.
Charlies body was easily identifiable by the gigantic tattoo on her back (not of a dragon).
The investigation into the murder is led by Richard McCabes DI Colby.
It seems that Killer Net uses real life police officer pictures grafted on to a video recording.
Orange is meant to play something of a hard case DJ who crumbles when hes put under Police interrogation.
One actor who did impress in this episode was Paul Bettany.
Calm, deadly, and ready to drop his mate Scott in it if the opportunity should arise.
Bettany made Joe a mesmerising character.
At this point the audience is one step ahead of the cops.
It becomes obvious that this man is using the game to get away with murder.
This is a nice twist toKiller Netas it introduces a secondary strand to the whodunit mystery.
storyline is resolved in a rather pedestrian fashion.
Charlie went down for it and Joe walked away.
With his back against the wall, a tearful Joe confesses.
If that was it thenKiller Netwould have stumbled to a rather uninspiring and flat conclusion.
He breaks into her flat, records her while showering, in what seems an all-too-easy fashion.
Bear in mind that this was 1998, long before web cams and such were readily available.
Its a very bleak finish to the drama.
No character has a happy ending.
Scott throws his computer monitor off the roof.
No one is exactly strolling off into the sunset but it seems fitting for the tone of the show.
There was something wonderfully 90s aboutKiller Net.
Rewatching this was the first time Id heard a Finlay Quaye song in at least ten years.
Killer Netfinds itself entrenched in that decade primarily through its use of technology.
Almost no character has a mobile phone, something unthinkable for any student drama now.
The action of sending game data across the internet is done by almost anyone with a playstation now.
The show throws back to a time when all this seemed shiny and new.
Script and performance-wise,Killer Netwas a tight ship.
This deserves to be ranked alongside the likes ofThis Lifeas one of the 1990s iconic drama serials.
