State of Play Series 1 Reviews

This is what we pay our licence fee for!

I missed this series when it was first shown on the Beeb, but now that I finally got the chance to watch it properly...this is just outrageously fantastic!

The script, the directing, the acting (Bill Nighy!), everything!!

I could go on and on about it, but if you haven't seen it yet, this really is BBC drama at its best. Don't miss it.

Fantastic Drama

A brilliant, well written and well acted piece of drama. John Simm, David Morrisey and Bill Nighy star in Paul Abott's superb political drama. Shown on the BBC a couple of years ago, State of Play has not lost any of its appeal or impact. Sleaze and corruption all sounds very familar in British politics, but the twists and turns in State of Play makes it really stand out. A pleasure to watch again.

fabulous!

Missed this on TV but it was absolutely great entertainment. Exciting, gripping and clever. John Sims is always good and never predictable and David Morrissey is always watchable. Great drama, couldn't wait to get the second DVD!

Pegs

East Yorkshire

[Highly rated reviewer]

Simply Fantastic

A thoroughly Superb piece of Drama from the BBC, with amazing script and fantastic acting.

Roll on the sequel

fantastic ensemble acting ****1/2

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 on line reviews. 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.

All the President's Men meets Defence of the Realm!

I really thoroughly enjoyed 99% of 'State of Play' and would have gladly given it five stars but for the final denouement, which lets it down ever so slightly but it is, only, ever so slightly. There has to be a final twist in any really good thriller that we do not see coming and that knocks our expectation for the preceding drama out of the water and leaves us, hopefully, with our jaws on the floor. The moment where, as in 'The sixth Sense', we all take a sharp intake of breath and cannot wait to tell others, with the smug satisfaction of knowing any really good secret that they must see it for themselves to be initiated into this most excellent of clubs. It is largely how well this final twist works that such dramas ultimately stand or fall; it is a central rule of the thriller genre. Hence, I had to knock off 1 star, because I just felt that the final twist here, although certainly surprising, clever and reasonable enough, was not the best one that had been suggested by events up to that point; enough said. With my tiny 1% criticism out of the way, I have to say that 'State of Play' really is an excellent thriller that is still very much worthy of attention. It is well written, by Paul Abbott, and very well cast, directed and acted. It is a real tour de force for British thriller making that when it reaches these kinds of highs, eclipes our American Cousins into the total darkness of mediocrity. 'State of Play' is a political thriller and a really topical one. It questions the link between Government and Business, as well as between Government and News. However, I felt it did not go far enough in its damnation of a Political system in this country that has been hijacked, in the Noughties, by self-seekers to control almost everything that is broadcast to the public and so to push a particular and cynical political agenda and to erase any 'real' opposition to that agenda. 'State of Play' uses a similar format to the excellent 'Defence of the Realm' - investigative journalism in the murkier sectors of politics. There are so many parallels that it surely must have been a huge influence on all concerned. This is a good thing and it ensures that the action and story unfold and play out in the same exciting and thrilling way that they do in 'Defence of the Realm'. There are so many good performances here that it is almost impossible to single anyone out but I did love Bill Nighy's turn as the embattled editor of the fictional Herald Newspaper, he brings a comedic lightness to any role and is just ambiguous enough in his personality and acting style to leave you unsure as to how he will react to any given development. This helps immensely, because you are never sure who he will support and why, which makes the dilemmas of the reporters ever more difficult to judge. This is one of the central questions of 'State of Play'- who can you trust? The political dilemmas prsented here should be in all our thoughts and 'State of Play' has much to warn us about our present identity as Britains, and the relationship between those who govern and those who sell us what we want and need in our consumer society. The fact that something like this has been made tells us much about the fears and concerns out there in the current political climate, and rightly so. A really well paced and exciting, topical, absorbing and thrilling story told with great pace and style that will appeal to anyone who likes quality drama such as 'Hustle' or 'Spooks'. You'll want it over a weekend, because you will not be able to wait for the second disc, after seeing the first! Sit back and enjoy it all, in a sitting over a short period of time, and revel in six episodes of thought provoking and gripping drama from a cast that gives it everything they've got in a story that is superbly crafted.

excellent

good paced drama with a few twists.

Could have done without daft relationship but nontheless a good yarn.

Fantastic

I missed this when it was first shown, but my dad recommended it. Its absolutely fantastic, one of the best thrillers I've ever seen. A brilliantly put together cast in which Bill Nighy shines - but I don't think anyone could have stopped him. I hope there's another one.

So far, so great

Very intriguing. Well written. Well acted.