Secret State

As my summary suggests, this was a bit of a mixed bag.

The show is by no means perfect. It plays to some very old stereotypes in these situations... that everyone is very posh, in it for themselves, that women have to be aggressive and man-like. The moustache-twirling is used to very high degrees.

It of course also takes very broad and simplistic positions on many topics, as it is only a four episode series.

But at its core is an interesting mystery/political thriller, and a good mix of dynamics between government, big business and the banks. Gabriel Byrne is great and distracts from some of the narrative issues well, and delivers West Wing–like speeches at times, and supporting actors such as Ruth Negga provide good turns even if their roles are limited.

One review commented that it was made for stupid 14 year olds, which is the classic way of putting down others by saying if you like it you are clearly a stupid child. However, that reviewer takes things far too seriously. Commenting that in a national tragedy a deputy prime minister wouldn't waste his time going to speak to local residents just shows that he was looking for issues within the first five minutes of the show.

If you crave reality, or accuracy to minute detail, then this show isn't for you. It's fiction at the end of the day. Realistic it isn't, but it does give food for thought and is an entertaining mini series.

A good drama but A little confused and Hurried.

I was hoping for the story to actually go somewhere but i was disappointed.

Its good but too short and deserves a full series and story development.

But definite Kudos for Gabriel Byrnes dramatic performance. He really carried it along.

I enjoyed it but wanted more, it leaves you wanting the story to properly finish, and for "Byrnes" character to fulfill his heroic destiny.

Loved this series from the first episode. The plot is superb and the story draws you in beautifully and keeps you wanting more hence the writer deserves the highest accolade. The cast is perfect and do a stellar job. The direction is fabulous too as no thriller can do with sloppy work. Only negative is that it ends too soon, it deserved at least 10 episodes. Thats one view point, other view point says that maybe it was exciting because it was a short series. Hopefully we'll have a longer series 2. Kudos to Channel 4 for this one. So political thrillers are back and back with a bang and this one matches the era we live in.

I've watched a LOT of British drama and this up there with the very best of them. What a pity we only got (get) to see 4 episodes and only a hint of the conclusion. It would have been great to see this played out to it's conclusion. I just don't get to understand the nay sayers. A truly superb cast - an abundance of thespian heavy weights - and at the top is Gabriel Byrne of course. He lends more gravitas as the prime minister than most "real life actors". As a support, Chares Dance is of course superb. Definitely worth watching. I'd actually give it more stars if I could and watched the series twice.

Pretty good if a bit melodramatic at times. Superb cast and the storyline is intriguing if nothing new. The ending could have been a bit more definitive as I hate things being left open to interpretation.

I'd watch it again and would like a second series