| Product: |
State Of Play: Complete BBC Series 1 (DVD) |
| Date: |
19/06/08 (88 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: A fantastic plot, script, interesting and incredible actors and intriuing characters
Disadvantages: No DVD extras, you NEED to be alert whilst watching this!
I first became a big fan of John Simm whilst watching the brilliant sci-fi cop drama 'Life On Mars'. My Mother - although some would claim that she is slightly bias for various reasons - assured me that the man himself was fabulous in everything he did on screen, only taking the best scripts available to him.
So, I went off to my local HMV and got a copy of the self proclaimed 'Political Thriller', 'State Of Play' for £12. I'd been told that it was a good drama, an original idea and an all star cast of solid British actors and actresses that made each 60 minute episode intriguing. As someone who is interested in journalism and the media, this DVD ticked many boxes for me; written by a quirky yet realistic screenwriter, Paul Abbott, the man that gave us 'Shameless' and some of the later episodes of ITV's 'Cracker', I felt compelled to purchase the set.
The BASIC PLOT
The show focuses on the clash between politics and the media's portrayal of events, a clash that has been open to much interpretation over the years as to how thin a line there actually is between the two. The first episode opens and immediately hooks you in with the assassination of a young man on the streets of London and the news that a political researcher, Sonia Baker, has died. Was she killed? Or was it suicide?
Many bizarre occurrences lead to the idea that the two deaths were linked in a strange conspiracy theory of oil industry and political corruption. This is built upon throughout the one off series, with the script for this drama being engaging, thought provoking and ambiguous enough to captivate an audience for a large part of this. All of the six episodes in the series help to add more twists and turns to the plot, which thickens nicely throughout. It's difficult to say what happens when due to the dubious cliff hangers at the end of each instalment; between the episodes, there is no clear definition as each subplot within the whole intertwines to cumulate in the final part.
I do have to admit though that - by the end of watching episode three - I had guessed who the main perpetrator was behind the killings. None the less, it was interesting to find out how the end result came about and my guess work didn't really spoil the conclusion for me at all because of how well the final few scenes were pulled off by the two central characters of the show and the scripts close attention to miniscule details that may have seemed a bit insignificant during each episode.
THE CAST AND CHARACTERS
The cast in 'State of Play' blended well together with a great deal of chemistry between main actors David Morrissey, who played the sincere Tony Blair clone of Stephen Collins down to an absolute 'T' and John Simm, who starred as the protagonist Cal McAffrey, the journalist who got a little too involved in the news stories. Their performances were really interesting to me, especially Simm's as from reading interviews with him in the past, he seems to have a fond disliking of information seeking reporters. Yet, the two men's performances in some of the final scenes were so intense and emotional that, in spite of some of the more peculiar aspects of the plot, they seemed completely realistic but you may need to watch it more than once to truly understand each development fully.
Bill Nighy (Cameron Foster) portrays his editor's role perfectly - providing some much needed comic relief in places as well as a witty, controlled performance every bit credible of his Best Actor BAFTA. He was certainly a believable boss character that clashed well with the overly ambitious Cal on a number of occasions, proving that the power isn't always in the editor's hands to higher authorities of cautious figureheads.
Kelly Macdonald (Della Smith) and Polly Walker (Ann Collins) were good in their roles as the main female leads. My one issue with Polly was that I didn't think the conclusion for her character fitted her acting and was one of the only parts of the drama that seemed to lack substance, which was a shame as I do think it was meant to be an entirely significant part. The charming James McAvoy really brought the young, cheeky Dan Foster character to life as the greenest employee on the newspaper where McAffrey and Foster worked. Philip Glensiter, best known as Gene Hunt in 'Life On Mars' and 'Ashes To Ashes', played Copper DCI Bell to aptness in his small yet valuable part in the show. If you are expecting his character to be kicking down doors than forget it; Phil shows a little more diversity to his acting skills.
Dominic Foy - 'Hustle's' Marc Warren - was played extremely well too, helping to close many of the story's gaps throughout the last few episodes. With his thick, cockney accent, he was the most surprising of all the characters in the show, and one that was certainly needed at the latter stages of the series. All of the actors in this gave performances of an exceptionally high standard, another reason, in my opinion, why the show was so successful and critically acclaimed at the time of release in 2003, including several BAFTA awards.
OVERALL
I can't actually complain about the quality of the DVD's; over the two disks, it would have been nice for there to have been some good extras such as interviews with the cast but it wasn't to be. I did feel that the set up and screen direction on the menus were a little rushed and not as clear as it could have been which was a shame considering just how biting the show itself was. But, this is typical of the BBC's DVD presentation style; like with 'The Lakes', the focus was indeed on the high quality of the drama but it does feel like they neglected the actual release of the show quite a bit.
So, if you are a fan of well made, well executed television, 'State Of Play' is certainly for you. With top class performances and a script that will make you wish you'd wrote it, this is one of the finest pieces of TV to emerge since the turn of the Millennium. I will warn you by saying that you do need to be quite alert in order to watch this; if you miss one tiny bit of detail the end result may not be quite as clear for you as it should be.
There were rumours of a second series but I highly doubt this; with McAvoy in Hollywood, Glenister stuck in the 80's and Simm working on a Channel 4 production, I can't say it would be a shame for there not to be a second series. This was so perfectly made that anything less than perfection would undermine the realistic, gritty performances and dialogue depicted here in an environment that might not be as straight forward as a viewer would like to think.
(Note: Written previously on Ciao by myself, MizzMolko).
Summary: Another high quality BBC production.
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