If You Thought 24 Was Great, Wait Till You See This! (The State Within: The Complete Series (DVD))

Member Name: karenuk

Product:	The State Within: The Complete Series (DVD)
Date:	16/05/09 (126 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fantastic cast, intelligent and clever political thriller, intriguing, absorbing, exciting

Disadvantages: None

Continuing our quest for DVDs that hubby and I would both enjoy watching, he suggested we buy something called The State Within. His argument went something like this -

"Do you fancy this one? Political thriller. Good British cast too."

(Me, not very enthusiastically) "Mm. Sounds okay."

"Jason Isaacs and Neil Pearson?"

"Yep, sounds brilliant!" I love those two and would watch adverts for life insurance avidly, if they were in them. I loved Jason Isaacs in Harry Potter, Peter Pan and The Curse of Steptoe, while Neil Pearson was superb in Between the Lines and All the Small Things.

So we bought the DVD and sat down to watch it one evening. I was looking forward to drooling over two British sex-gods. Oops, I mean, I was eagerly awaiting a tense political thriller with a stellar cast. Yes, that was it.


THE STATE WITHIN

The State Within was broadcast in the UK in 2006 in six weekly episodes, then in the US in 2007. The two-disc DVD contains all six episodes and a 'Making of' documentary, for a running time of 351 minutes. It is currently available from Amazon UK for £9.98.

Hubby and I watched one or two episodes a night, but after the first twenty minutes or so of Episode One, I knew it was the kind of thing I could watch straight through - if I'd had six hours to spare and had no kids interrupting the peace. It is something you want to concentrate on, so we could only squeeze in an hour or two a night.

The drama is set around the British Embassy in the US and Mark Brydon (Jason Isaacs), the British Ambassador in Washington. It is a political thriller which incorporates several big issues - global terrorism, business interests, arms deals, mercenary armies, world affairs, the Death penalty, diplomacy and the relationship between the UK and the US. These appear to be separate problems for a while, but all converge by the end in fascinating style.

It is both educational and informative, as you pick up a lot of things from watching the series. I hadn't really thought much about a diplomat's life before, but expected it to entail lots of cocktail dinners and entertaining - so pretty cushy really. But if Mark Brydon is based on any kind of reality, I have much more respect and sympathy for the diplomatic service!

The cast features two 'camps' really, with the Americans being portrayed by (generally) Americans led by Sharon Gless (of Cagney and Lacey fame!) and the Brits portrayed by an impressive list of, erm, Brits. These include the afore-mentioned Jason Isaacs and Neil Pearson, as well as Ben Daniels (Cutting It, Law and Order: UK), Alex Jennings (Cranford, Prince Charles in The Queen), Lennie James (who was great in the film Lucky Break) and Anita Carey (who recently won awards for her portrayal of Vivien in Doctors, the receptionist who was raped).

It is a fast-paced, exciting and entertaining political thriller, a bit like a British version of 24. I love 24, but to be honest, I thought The State Within was even better. The acting was excellent and it was dramatic, involving, full of surprises and real edge-of-the-seat stuff.

There is so much going on. As well as the personal relationships between some of the characters, there are the 'in house' relationships between the British embassy staff and also the Americans, then the wider issues that affect the world. The State Within illustrates the treatment of Muslims post 9-11 and how this could easily escalate.

It also examines how the former East European Soviet satellite states could be a breeding ground for corruption. Here, the fictional country of Tyrgyzstan is the country in question, as the US appears to back the current leader Usman, while critics like James Sinclair (Alex Jennings) support the opposition leader Esham.

It is an unpredictable and compelling series, which has the intelligence of a BBC drama but the special effects and glitz of a Hollywood blockbuster. It keeps you thinking throughout, as you try to work out who are the good guys and who are the baddies, as well as trying to figure out who is controlling who and why! It is very intense and means you want to keep watching, to find out what happens and who is behind it all. We found ourselves shouting at the screen, telling the characters who they should and shouldn't trust, so we certainly got involved!

Jason Isaacs plays Mark Brydon superbly. He is our hero, as he gets involved in everything and aims to do the right thing. He is both chivalrous and sexy. He's a trusted pair of hands and you feel you would be safe with him.

The entire cast are wonderful, but other characters which deserve a special mention are Ben Daniels as Nicholas Brocklehurst and Eva Birthistle as Jane Lavery, as both actors manage to evoke strong emotional responses from the viewers. Aaron Abrams is also charming as the journalist Matthew Weiss.

There is much to love about this series and little to dislike. It is involving, has great special effects and is a fascinating glimpse into the world of politics and diplomacy. Even without Jason Isaacs and Neil Pearson, I would have loved this, but with them, it is just perfect! Highly recommended.


DVD EXTRAS

The DVD has one extra - a 28-minute documentary about the making of The State Within. This is interesting and worth watching. It features interviews with the cast and crew, including the writers, Jason Isaacs, Neil Pearson, Sharon Gless, Ben Daniels and Alex Jennings.

There is a fascinating section about how they achieved a huge special effect. I loved seeing behind the scenes here and all the work that went into this amazing scene, especially the use of model cars in plotting what was going to happen and where.

Summary: A wonderfully exciting and intelligent political thriller