The Undeclared War

One of the best series I've seen! Great storyline about worldwide, government hacking and how easy it is for terrorists to infiltrate government systems. The characters are believable, the plot is fascinating and quite suspenseful. The end of episode six came far too soon and ended with a cliffhanger I sure hope Peacock continues the series with a second season.

I don't know who these types are that are calling this show 'Inaccurate'. They certainly don't work with software!

I'm just bowled over by the accuracy. The whole setup, and the tech, is completely believable and obviously researched. Simon Pegg's influence? (Probably not, he's not a producer on this.)

The physical metaphors with corridors and walls and doors are essential, and I'm quite enjoying them - laypeople have NO idea what it looks like going through dense code. Especially slogging through code that's written by somebody else, let alone an adversary. This visual storytelling mechanism greatly eases things.

Also the portrayals of high-functioning Autism are, finally, actually right on the money.

But I'm only two or three episodes in, and I fear it is going to dissolve into mush. None of the characters are very likeable, but perhaps that's deliberate. The mains all ooze upper-class UK elitism, and the lead character trots out her religion whenever it suits her.

We'll see.

On the day that work experience student, Saara, joins GCHQ, The Russians launch a cyber attack on The UK.

Every so often Channel 4 releases a drama that makes you pause and think, a few years ago that happened with Blackout, the same happened here, a what if scenario that leaves you feeling a little unnerved, the idea that events could actually happen.

Well produced, well acted, it moves along nicely, it's a deep story with several stands, all of which tied together neatly. The variety is great too, episode three in particular is so unique.

I thought the acting in general was excellent, the standout for me had to be Mark Rylance, he wasn't in it a great deal, but he was outstanding. Nice to see Simon Pegg in a serious role, he did a good job. Adrian Lester felt underused.

There are a few flaws, Saara's on work experience, she has a very political boyfriend, and yet roams freely around GCHQ, as if she has top level clearance, that did feel a little too far fetched.

Overall, a truly interesting and thought provoking watch, bravo Channel 4, 8/10.

I thoroughly enjoyed this series, 8/10.

Let me start by saying that I admire Peter Kosminsky's work. Wolf Hall garnered much praise and I thought that The Promise was one of the best things I have ever seen on television. So I had very high expectations of this series.

By that benchmark this was a disappointment. Yet the storyline is ingenious, depicting terrifying events that might just be plausible and certainly act as a timely warning in this world of fake news and cyber warfare. So why the disappointment? I have a few quibbles, such as the sudden ending and the self-blame by the main character ringing false. But in reality it is because I wanted to watch a series that merited a score of 10, not a 7!

I will hope for something truely outstanding from Mr Kosminsky with his next venture ....

This series divides opinion, but is well worth trying. The stop-start pacing with regular diversions to fill in blocks of background is a common gripe. In that sense if you liked Ozarks (we did) perhaps you will like the pacing, However, it all moves along quite nicely regardless.

Our main criticism would be a British Prime Minster who is completely unbelievable and GCHQ itself, which I imagine will have actual staff hopping about in frustration at the unflattering portrayal.

Not a classic, a bit wokey, but pretty good and very watchable if you find it works for you. Suggest ignore the somewhat dire comments of some and judge for yourself. You only need to watch one episode to weigh it up, which is pretty handy.