Now we come to an entry in our list of Secret Services so secret that, as far as I can recall, they're never even given a name. Agents of the outfit pose as members of CIB (the Complaints Investigation Branch of the London Metropolitan Police Force) on occasion, and so that name seems to work as well as any other. They are a clandestine government agency, though, and their remit definitely falls under the general heading of "occult"--though in extremely clever ways.

Ultraviolet was a 1998 British television production created by Joe Ahearne, who has since directed episodes of Doctor Who and Strange, among others. The series was recommended to me a few years later, and I picked up the Region 2 DVD to check it out, sight unseen. I never regretted it.


Ultraviolet is arguably the best show of its kind to date. In the first episode, a detective-sergeant with the London Metropolitan Police (played by Jack Davenport of Coupling and Pirates of the Caribbean) is drawn into a mystery when his partner begins behaving strangely, claiming that he's been targeted by some kind of black-ops government-backed death squad. Davenport's character encounters the "death squad," which includes a former soldier, a priest, and a cancer specialist, who reveal that they really are after his partner--who just happens to have been infected with something called "Code V."

What's Code V? Here's the list of characteristics, from the show's official site:

Code Vs do not show in mirrors, photographs or videos. Their voices cannot be recorded or transmitted by phone. Image and sound can only be detected face to face.

They are immortal. They cannot be killed, only reduced to ashes (neutralized).

They can be neutralized by exposure to sunlight or by introducing carbon into the chest cavity (projectile, probe or explosive). Resulting immolation releases enough energy to start fires.

Code V ashes can be regenerated and must be kept secure.

They can be repelled by ultraviolet light (the radiation in sunlight) or by allicin (the chemical in garlic).

They can shield themselves from ultraviolet light with tinted glass.

They can be affected by polluted blood.

When they feed, the host wound heals over in minutes and can only be detected in ultraviolet light. The bite can be treated with lasers. The skin around the wound is burnt away leaving a small scar.

If untreated, a human becomes suggestible and develops aversion to sunlight.

There may also be an aversion to religious symbols. This may be psychological. The effect of religious symbols on Code Vs is unproven.

When drained to death, a human becomes a Code V.

No-one is forcibly recruited. They only take those who want to go.

Code Vs claim to have human-type emotions. This is unproven.

One of the terrific things about Ultraviolet is that it's a show about vampire-hunters that never mentions the word "vampire." Not once. The series takes the basic premise of vampirism and treats it with rigorous logic. If vampires don't show up in mirrors, for example, why not mount mirrored sights on weapons, along with a miniature video camera. If a target appears in the video screen but not in the mirror sight, you're looking at a Code V and should open fire. But not just with regular rounds, but bullets of compressed carbon--reinforced charcoal--that have the same effect as a stake through the heart. Then there's the mace that's laced with oils expressed from garlic, and the UV lights used to check a subject's reaction to sunlight. Clever, clever stuff.


The series ran for only one season of six episodes, a lamentably short run, but those six stories are packed to the gills with terrific writing, great acting, and viciously clever twists. I really can't recommend it highly enough.

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