Product description

State Of Play : Complete BBC Series 1 [2003]

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Average customer rating: 4.5

Binding : DVD
EAN : 5014503149321
Label : 2 Entertain Video
Manufacturer : 2 Entertain Video
Publisher : 2 Entertain Video
Release date : 2005-04-25
Title : State Of Play : Complete BBC Series 1 [2003]
Actor : Array
Audience rating : Suitable for 15 years and over
Format : PAL
Languages : Array
Number of items : 2
Original release date : 2003-05-18
Region code : 2
Running time : 340
Studio : 2 Entertain Video
Theatrical releaseDate : 2004
Number of discs : 2

Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-11-26 rating:

Excellent writing - fantastic ensemble acting 4.5 stars
This is gripping, intelligent, rewarding drama. I must have been out of the country when this was on and I only found out about it through Amazon. Thanks reviewers! I really enjoyed it and the only reason for four and a half stars rather than five is that, like some other reviewers, I found the ending not as satisfying as the rest.

The acting is outstanding; John Simm as the lead reporter Cal McCaffrey and David Morrisey as politician Stephen Collins give faultless performances. Kelly MacDonald, Bill Nighy, James McAvoy, Polly Walker, Philip Glenister are all excellent. I found Dominic Foy (Marc Warren) the only mis note; though he provides some comic relief in the midst of the dramatic tension he seemed to be acting in a different drama from the others.

As in The Wire we see the interdependency of the media, the police and the politicians but here the investigative journalism is the clear leader - uncovering conspiracy and researching the stories. Oh for a newspaper like The Herald! As in The Wire there is scarcely an unnecessary line in the writing.

Abbot achieves a great deal in six episodes - it is pacy and taut with enough twists and turns to keep us on our toes. I can't imagine the movie will do it better.

review by: date: 2008-10-05 rating:

Excellent thriller
This is a superb thriller which will keep you glued to the screen throughout. Excellent cast too.

review by: Werthead date: 2008-08-25 rating:

Superb
Back in 2003 the BBC asked the award-winning scriptwriter Paul Abbott to write something 'big' for them. Abbott, who'd cut his teeth on the UK's biggest soap, Coronation Street, before creating his own shows such as Touching Evil, Clocking Off and Linda Green, was just about to become the superstar of British scriptwriting, with both his BBC project and another that was in development at the time for C4, Shameless, which was about to launch him into the stratosphere. The BBC project became the political thriller State of Play. To say the BBC pulled out the 'big guns' for it would be an understatement. Some of the UK's biggest and best actors, including John Simm and Philip Glenister (who would be reunited for the excellent Life on Mars three years later) and the mighty Bill Nighy were recruited, along with Polly Walker (Patriot Games, Rome), Neil Morrissey (Framed, Blackpool) and Kelly MacDonald (Trainspotting). The drama also gave huge boosts to the careers of several younger actors, most notably James McAvoy (now a big star thanks to the movies The Last King of Scotland and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) and Marc Warren (Hustle, Hogfather and a memorable cameo in the new Doctor Who).

The series opens with a young black man being gunned down on the streets of London. Initially the murder is dismissed as a drug-related killing, although his family are adamant he didn't touch drugs. On the same day Sonia Baker, the personal assistant and clandestine lover of rising Labour MP Stephen Collins (Morrissey), falls to her death on the London Underground. Collins' breakdown makes it clear to the press and Parliament that they were lovers, and soon his career and his marriage to Anne (Walker) are in danger. Ironically, the only friend he can turn to is Cal McAffrey (Simm), the chief reporter for the London Herald, the paper which is investigating both deaths. An examination of mobile phone records suggests that the two deaths are related. The Herald puts its top journalists on the trail which uncovers evidence of high-level corruption and manipulation. When one of his police officers is killed during the investigation, DCI William Bell (Glenister) takes a personal interest in the case, eventually resulting in an uneasy truce as the police and the journalists work together to find the real story behind the deaths, whilst editor Cameron Foster (Nighy) attempts to keep his superiors from shutting the story down.

State of Play is a stunning piece of work. Taking its cue as much from All the President's Men as earlier BBC political thrillers such as the House of Cards trilogy of mini-series, this is a gripping story with twists that somehow defy cliche at every turn. Misdirections crop up frequently and the extremely well-drawn characters follow through on them logically. It's nice to see a newspaper drama in which there isn't any 'lose cannon' operating on his own: the journalists act as a team, protected by their editor as long as the story seems worth it, and use contacts and modern technology to dig deeper into the facts in a very believable manner. The workings of Parliament, including how the independent committees function under pressure from lobby groups, are also laid out clearly.

Acting-wise, you couldn't ask for a better cast. Nighy gives a performance that may be one of the best of his career, including easily the funniest lines of the series. It takes some damn fine actors to hold their own and stop him stealing every scene, but Simm, Glenister, MacDonald, McAvoy and the rest rise to the occasion superbly, whilst Marc Warren gives a tremendous performance as the incredibly nervous, edgy main lead on the story who is fearing for his life. Morrissey, as one of our very best but underrated actors, makes Stephen Collins a believably weak but human character. Walker is also on terrific form as the wife who finds out her husband was having an affair and planning to leave her.

I don't think there's many more adulations I can pour on this mini-series, which was nominated for BAFTAs and other awards, and is now being mentioned in the same breath as Edge of Darkness among the canon of quality BBC drama serials. Filming has just been completed on an American film version, which casts Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck in Simm and Morrissey's roles (although if they do half as good a job, I will be shocked), and it will be released in early 2009.

State of Play (*****) is one of the best British drama mini-series of all time, period, and I would thoroughly recommend it to everyone.

review by: pris, date: 2008-03-14 rating:

Incestuous Interplay Between Politics, Media and Industry
"The more compelling moments of the series come not in the various subplots surround the mystery in front of us--although it is mystery indeed--but in how indoctrinate and incestuous the interplay between politics, media, and industry are in the modern information age. All three stand at cross-purposes, yet secretly acknowledge that none can succeed without careful consideration of the other two. Vital communication often runs deep underneath the observed interactions between the groups, taking place in back-room meetings and clandestine e-mails, and through veiled threats." Judge Arsenault

Having just come off the viewing of 10 weeks of the critically acclaimed HBO's TV show 'The Wire', I needed a pick me up, and wowser did I find one. This BBC 6 show series that aired in 2004 has it all and it is an even toss up with me as to which show is best, 'The Wire' or 'State of Play'. In both series the acting is superb. Bill Nighy as the wry, buttoned down, full of himself editor of the Herald hits the mark every time and won the UK's Best Actor award. Polly Walker known to most of us from HBO's 'Rome' is the politician's wife and is flawless. David Morrissey, as the politician, John Simm and Kelly Macdonald as the intrepid reporters for the Herald mark this cast as fully realized.

The shotgun murder of a drug-related killing, and the apparent accidental death of Sonia Baker, a researcher for Member of Parliament Stephen Collins seems unrelated. The one difference is the makings of a scandal when the news of Sonia's death hits the streets. Stephen Collins the Parliament member who employed Sonia is visibly shocked and upset when her death is announced. The editor of the Herald suspects some hanky-panky and sends two of his best investigative reporters out to look the matter over. Cal McCaffrey and Della Smith find that these two deaths are not only related but were linked to the oil industry and the British government. One scandal after another is uncovered and this minor story soon leaps to the largest story of the year.

The story of corruption and mayhem and lies and deceit are all realistic. The fact that the media, government and industry could all be in collusion seems all too true to those of us in the US looking at the war in Iraq and what has been wrought. What we don't count on is that once we think we have everything figured out, a new twist occurs. Some of this is a little over the top, but the superb acting counters any fallacy.

'State Of Play' shines on the media, in this case, the newspaper, the Herald. Financial success is intertwined with the government, and it is not easy to convince the CEO and the board that publishing the story is the right thing to do. Everyone in this series is touched in some manner by the final decisions and actions that take place. The action, the suspense, the writing, the cinematography are all as one to produce one of the best BBC series I have viewed. Helen Mirren and Russell Crowe are at this moment filming a movie version of this series. We have the best here, how could they ever top this series?

Highly, Highly Recommended. prisrob 03-13-08

The Girl in the Cafe

8 1/2 Women

review by: Jobeansy date: 2008-02-29 rating:

Great, save the last 20 minutes!
Being a politics junkie and great fan of the West Wing, and having heard positive references to this series on Front Row many times, I thought it was time to see what the fuss was about. And largely I was not disappointed. It is taught, superbly written, well directed, and believable, until the last 20 minutes, when the wrap up/finale is completely implausible, and so ultimately a let down. It left me wondering if Paul Abbott actually wrote this ending at the outset, or if he was strong armed by the producer to alter it before it was commissioned, that said, the rest of it is well worth a watch - just manage your expectations for the ending!

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