If you’ve follow my reviews of Netflix offerings,
you’ve met some diverse, but hopefully interesting characters, i.e. Doctor Martin
Ellingham (Doc Martin) , Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Foyle (Foyle’s War), and Aldrich Ames (The Assets).
Now, let's delve into the world of political dramas. Each starts with a
major diplomatic incident, followed by a web of tangled relationships and
conflicting interest, and asks the question “who can you trust”.
The State Within, a tense political thriller, aired
in the United Kingdom on November 2, 2006. The plot covers just 17 days of intense
activity, including espionage, personal relationships, and international
diplomacy. British Ambassador Sir Mark Brydon
(Jason Issacs) holds the crown jewel of the Foreign Service in his Washington post.
He’s proven himself to be among the UK’s best and brightest. When an airplane
explodes over Washington, he finds himself at the center of a political
conspiracy that threatens Western governments and has the potential to unleash
a world-wide war. Lynne Warner (Sharon Gless), U. S. Secretary of Defense, has
ties to the military industrial complex and seems bent on moving the country
toward war. The possibility of British terrorist operating on U. S. soils
sparks an intense effort in the British embassy to uncover the plot and the
players.
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| Jason Isaacs-Sharon Gless |
This drama is fast paced and never lets up. It got my attention and kept it. The characters were complex, multifaceted, and realistic. The incidents and interplay is straight out of today’s headlines. The pinch of romance adds flavor to the main character, enriching his personality and complicating his decisions. The series peeps into the world of high stakes where information means power and interpretation means everything. Watch a couple of episodes and let me know what you think.
State of Play which aired in 2003 takes be a page out of today's headlines. It's another award winning political drama, set in London, dissecting the complex life of a politician. When a member of Parliment's research assistant is found dead, he finds himself under the microscope facing dogged newspaper reporters scrambling to get to the bottom of the story. In a seemingly unrelated story, a teenage pickpocket is shot dead. Initially, reporters pay little attention, but as the plot unfolds, they find the teen's death is a key element in a web of intrigue.
John Simm plays Cal McCaffrey, hot shot reporter for one of London's biggest newspapers. He happens to be an old friend of rising political star Steven Collins (David Morrissey). Bill Nighy is McCaffrey's Editor, Cameron Foster. McCaffrey diligently uncovers clues, risking his life and career for the ultimate story. As the star reporter draws closer to the truth, he discovers he has made “one serious, but false assumption”.
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| John Simm-David Morrissey-Bill Nighy |
I watched State of Play, enjoyed it, but never realizing its similarity to the 2009 movie with the same name that starred Russell Crowe (reporter) and Ben Afflex (political rising star). Watch the miniseries on Netflix and catch the movie on Hulu Plus. Let me know how you rate them.
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