Cooper & Fry on Channel 5: Meaning of Edendale's folklore, including the screaming skull and hand of glory
The two detectives investigate murders that are steeped in folklore
Cooper & Fry is a detective drama with a difference, as the two leads investigate cases that are “steeped in folklore and encased in secrets”. So what’s the meaning of screaming skulls, hands of glory, and corn dollies?
Channel 5 adapted the best-selling novels by Stephen Booth into four feature-length films set in the “mystery-shrouded Peak District”. They bring to life the novels Black Dog, Dying to Sin, Blind To the Bones and Dancing with the Virgins.
The quite brilliant new series follows two mismatched young detectives. They are thrown together to investigate a string of mysterious deaths. And all the cases include some connection to local folklore and long-held beliefs.
While DC Diane Fry (Mandip Gill) is sceptic of local folklore, DC Ben Cooper (Rob James-Coller) is willing to embrace the old customs. As they unearth old rituals and beliefs, they must rely on each other to not only bring justice, but to survive…
Here’s a rundown of all the deep-rooted folklore that appears in Cooper & Fry on Channel 5, including screaming skulls, hands of glory, and corn dollies.
***Warning: mild spoilers from episode 1 of Cooper & Fry ahead***
Cooper & Fry folklore: What is a screaming skull?
In the first feature-length episode of Cooper & Fry on Channel 5, DC Ben Cooper and Edendale Police newcomer DC Diane Fry investigate a dead body at Tanglewood Farm.
A body without a hand is unearthed on the Derbyshire farm during recent renovations. The two detectives almost immediately discover that the death is linked to local legend.
A second body is later uncovered at the farm, and this body is missing its head. Both missing body parts are associated with occult artefacts. And the supernatural element is a continuing thread throughout the series.
Cooper subsequently teaches Fry about the local Edendale folklore surrounding a severed head known as ‘Screaming Billy’. He tells his new partner that screaming skulls are considered magic that wards off evil.
A screaming skull is, in fact, a “mummified human skull”. It’s believed that screaming skulls belong to people whose spirits are so rooted in a place that they refuse to leave – even after they die. They give luck and protection, according to legend, if they remain in one place.
However, if someone takes the screaming skull from its home, then that person will die before the end of the year. So in the show, Derek Carlyle believed that he’d cursed the farm and himself by taking the screaming skull with him to the care home.
What is a hand of glory?
Much like a screaming skull, a hand of glory is a mummified human hand. The rather grisly artefact was most often that of a criminal. If you possessed a hand of glory, it’s believed your evil deeds would go undetected.
The hand of glory would “conceal criminal activities”. Traditionally believed to have magical powers in folklore.
In the past, the hand belonged to a person who had been hanged, specifically the hand that had committed the crime. The hand would be dried and pickled after being cut from the corpse. A candle was then made from the body’s fat, sometimes with the hair from the deceased used as the wick.
We hope you’re not eating.
Corn dollies meaning
In the fictional town of Edendale, there are corn dollies in most homes and even the local pub. Local belief is that the spirit of the corn lived inside them in the winter. In the spring, they’d be buried in the ground. The spirit would subsequently be bought back to life.
As Ben told Diane: “People like their traditions around here.”
Talking about Cooper & Fry, director Ryan Tohill said: “The series starts out in a world which feels supernatural. The causes of these crimes seem to be embedded in an ancient tradition or curse. The victim was part of a strangeness most people don’t understand. Cooper and Fry have to unearth what they were actually involved in.
“I thought the sense of the supernatural was an interesting hook at the start of the stories, where the audience doesn’t know what, not who, is responsible for these crimes and how dark the story might become.”
Cooper & Fry folklore: Black dogs
A later episode of Cooper & Fry is adapted from the book called Black Dog.
In the book, Black Dog relates to depression. But some artistic license is used in the TV show. Instead the episode centres more about a demon dog from folklore.
The black dog is “a supernatural, spectral, or demonic hellhound originating from English folklore”. It is usually “unnaturally large with glowing red or yellow eyes”. The hellish canine is often connected with the Devil and an omen of death. Needless to say, they are a symbol of malevolence.
Cerberus from Greek mythology, who guards the gates of Hades, is the most famous representation of a black dog.
‘Ben is mostly very cynical about the world of the occult’
In Cooper & Fry, Ben Cooper’s mum is a clairvoyant, medium, and tarot card reader. She believes she can contact spirits beyond the grave.
Talking about the character, Rob James-Collier said: “She’s a fascinating and complex woman, although Ben is mostly very cynical about the world of the occult and thinks it’s a farce.
“He believes his mum believes in these practices, but he doesn’t believe it’s true. In a weird way, he does end up leaning on her and she does provide, possibly by accident, vital clues which help them with their inquiries.”
He added: “She’s lived in the village all her life and is a fount of all local knowledge when it comes to Edendale’s people, places, and history. As well as the gossip and rumours from yesteryear, which is very useful for Ben to draw on.”
‘The folklore element in Cooper & Fry makes it different to any other shows’
Talking about the folklore running through Cooper & Fry, actress Mandip Dill said: “What initially attracted me was the folklore element, which made it different to any of the other shows where I’ve played a police officer.
“Diane Fry is very sharp, street wise, by the book, and, most of all, sceptical of the folklore which Cooper has grown up with. Her scepticism is what makes her and Ben so different. Because when we first meet her she doesn’t buy any of the supernatural elements of the case. By the end of the series, Diane doesn’t believe in the folklore. She just understands the village more and how those stories are relevant to the community.”
Cooper & Fry viewers can expect a “gritty and character-driven procedural drama” set against the “haunting beauty of the Peak District”, where modern policing collides with old-world superstition.
‘Folklore is full of knowledge and cautionary tales’
Talking about this element of the show, co-creators and lead writers Ben Court and Caroline Ip said they’d always wanted to write a show incorporated folklore.
Caroline said: “Years ago, we wrote Mayday for the BBC and that was very much centred around folk belief. For us folklore is a bit creepy, but it’s where we hold a lot of memories about the land and about nature. Folklore is full of knowledge and cautionary tales.”
She added: “You have stories which warn you to beware of the river at night, because fairies come down the river and collect souls. That sounds creepy, but the reality is if you head down to the river at night, you’re going to fall in. That’ll be the end of you.
“The stories are to protect you, which is a good thing, so they need to be a bit scary. We like that aspect of creepiness serving a purpose. All the stories make sense, but you should always be careful of the fairies.”
Meanwhile, director Ryan Tohill explained how Cooper & Fry differs from other detective dramas. He said: “The folklore is an interesting avenue into a detective series, where you have ancient traditions surfacing in the 21st century and what happens when a police procedural clashes with folklore in a rural community. That opened the door to make a detective series which leans into those legends and is a little bit creepier than other series.”
Read more: ‘Powerful story’ about ‘every mother’s worst fear’ Missed Call on Channel 5 will star Joanna Scanlan
