Tweekums One day in London two people die; a woman who is a research assistant for an up and coming MP who ends up under a tube train and a young ne're-do-well who is shot in the head. They have nothing obvious in common but it emerges that the latter and called the former shortly before her death. Reporter Cal McCaffrey is convinced that there is a story and starts investigating. He has a slight personal interest as the MP the woman worked for is his old friend Stephen Collins… who it emerges was having an affair with the woman. As the series progresses the situation becomes more dangerous as conspiracies are exposed and people in power, both political and financial, bring pressure on the newspaper McCaffrey work for.This is definitely a superior series; the plot is gripping from the start and details are revealed in an interesting and believable way. The cast is top notch; most notably John Simm and David Morrissey as McCaffrey and Collins but there are also fantastic performances from Kelly Macdonald, Bill Nighy, James McAvoy and Polly Walker to name just a few. The series contains some impressive twists, including a conclusion that I didn't see coming but still felt believable. As well as a fine drama there are moments of unforced humour, mostly provided by Bill Nighy as the paper's editor and Marc Warren as a man who knows more than he wants to tell… the scene where he tries to run from the police while wearing a neck brace was priceless. Overall I'd highly recommend this to fans of a good mystery with political undertones.

Traline Spencer When I started searching for this mini-series, I got confused because there's a US movie with Russle Crowe that has the same exact title, and the plots are even similar. Although the Russle Crowe movie is pretty good, it doesn't hold a candle to this British mini-series. Seriously, I loved every single second of it. The plot had exciting and unexpected twists and turns. The character development was deep and realistic. There aren't any one dimensional cut and dry good or bad guys. Everyone has very apparent flaws, just like real life. I would definitely recommend this to anyone that likes good well written character driven political thriller type dramas. You won't be disappointed. I wish American TV mini-series were more like this. I have more reviews on my blog at www.sociallyurban.com If you're interested in checking it out.

bandw Scene-by-scene this thriller/drama really sucked me in. Once engaged it was hard to stop watching--it's the movie equivalent of a book you can't put down, since you want to know what is going to happen next. The production values are high in all categories. I particularly liked the framing suitable for wide screen viewing with the characters posed against backgrounds that make great use of color to accentuate the mood.The story of a newspaper reporter digging into a murder that ultimately involves high-level politicos requires close attention but, with a six hour run time, things unfold at a pace that can be digested.The ensemble cast is beyond reproach and Bill Nighy is simply superb in is portrayal of the editor of a large London newspaper. The score is not overly intrusive and it complements the action to engage you emotionally.The problem is that when it was all over I felt a bit letdown. In order to tie up some lose ends I think I could benefit from a second viewing, but the six hour time commitment has prevented my doing so. And maybe my sense of letdown was due to the fact that something that I had enjoyed so much was over.

freemantle_uk The BBC dramatic standards have been slipping, either trying to hard to compete with HBO (The Last Enemy), letting shows jump the shark (Spooks) or simply being too cheap and just make shows like Strictly Come Dancing. But when the BBC get it right it can be some of the best television available. With State of Play we get a brilliant written, deep show, with a great director and an fantastic cast. A show so good that Hollywood remade it into a film stating Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck.The mini-series starts with brutal murder of a 15-year-old petty criminal and the suspected suicide of Sonia Baker, a researcher for Simon Collins MP (David Morrissey), the chairman of the Energy Select Committee. At first the two events seem unrelated until newspaper reporter Cal McAffrey (John Simms) starts looking into it. Both men, with the backing of the Heard newspaper, including junior reporter Della Smith (Kelly MacDonald), editor Cameron Foster (Bill Nighy) and free-lancer Dan Foster (James McAvoy). Slowly all parties discover a conspiracy involving big oil, political corruption and sexual scandals. Simon Collins himself was having an affair with the dead researcher and his marriage falls apart. Cal ends up getting close with Simon's wife Anne (Polly Walker) and has to balance his friendship with the two. Cameron has to balance his editorial responsibles and Della and Dan set out to prove themselves as journalists.I am a politics nut, so this series easily appealed to me. Often programmes and films about British politics is treated as a comical subject. This series treats it seriously, much like the West Wing does with American politics (if a bit more far-fetched). The show follows the traditional British view of being cynical about politicians and ideology. However the show is wrong about how Select Committee Chairpersons are picked. The film also shows the underhanded way oil lobbyists world (oil is such a easy villains for us Brits). The show also looks at many aspects of the press, from its relationship with the government and politicians, journalistic ethics and Chinese walls between a paper's editorial staff and the ownership. The film looks at journalists and politicians as individuals and wanting to serve the public. The series has a great complex plot, you don't know where its going next and shows how hard journalists have to work. Peter Abbott does a wonder job.David Yates has proved himself to be a good director. The State of Play and his other mini-series Sex Traffic was prove enough for him to a land a small feature film, Harry Potter. He makes the series look very cinematic, like an excellent thriller feature. He keeps the tension going, get the best out of his actions and has some wonderful shot, especially tracking shots. He is a skilled man.There is a great cast, David Morrissey and John Sims are both very good actors and were excellent in the leads. Both character are very faulted but you take an interest in what happens to them. There is a great support cast, with actors like Kelly MacDonald, James McAvoy, Bill Nighy and Marc Warren. Bill Nighy was perfectly smiley but a cares about his people. Kelly MacDonald is excellent as the young idealist. There was no weak link and all the major characters are fully developed. Even the bad guys have reasons for what they are doing, and not just for money.The series is cheap on amazon and play and it is worth having. Highly recommended.