{"id":1830,"date":"2009-06-25T23:36:05","date_gmt":"2009-06-26T03:36:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=1830"},"modified":"2022-10-22T10:11:05","modified_gmt":"2022-10-22T14:11:05","slug":"state-of-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/state-of-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Cool Britannia: David Yates’ BBC Miniseries State of Play"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The 2003 BBC miniseries State of Play<\/em> is nothing less than six straight hours of intelligent drama, liberally spiced with suspense, action, and tasty plot twists. The entire epic tale is delivered by a veritable plethora of British Isles telly & film who’s who: writer Paul Abbot, director David Yates, and actors David Morrissey, John Simm, Kelly Macdonald, Polly Walker, Bill Nighy, and James McAvoy. Abbot is apparently a superstar television writer in the UK, and Yates directed the last two Harry Potter<\/em> films (as well as reuniting Nighy and Macdonald in 2005 for The Girl in the Cafe<\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State of Play<\/em> is an especially good tonic after happening to recently watch the dour The International<\/em><\/a>, which falls more or less into the same genre category. The key differential is a heathy dash of comic relief that never crosses over into farce, mostly supplied by the sublimely quirky Bill Nighy. But more importantly, the intricate tale of high-level political conspiracy feels pertinent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bill
The Herald newsroom follows the money in State of Play<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The International<\/em>, although based on an actual banking scandal (a topic that could not be more timely), sabotaged its plausibility by limiting the protagonists to two lone wolfs that take on a crooked multinational financial conglomerate on their lonesome. Here, numerous fleshed-out cops and reporters alternately clash and collaborate as they chase down a gargantuan story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State of Play<\/em> is both a classic newspaper story (like All the President’s Men<\/em>) and a police procedural (like The French Connection<\/em>). It’s worth noting that each of these genres are about the piecing together of stories<\/em>, and the suspense comes from the audience follows along with them as the discover the pieces of the narrative. Granted, the luxurious six-hour running time was a luxury The International<\/em> could not enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David
The Next Doctor faces off against The Master for the first time<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The details of the plot were undoubtedly timely in 2003 and continue to be now, proven by its American feature film remake in 2009. After suffering through 8 years of a Bush\/Cheney administration, Americans can intimately relate to oil companies meddling in governmental operations. Although State of Play<\/em> is fictional, the affair between a Member of Parliament and a staff member that winds up dead inescapably calls to mind US Representative Gary Condit’s affair intern Chandra Levy, found murdered in 2001. A subplot involving an MP’s compromised expense account now looks even more timely than Abbot could have predicted in 2003, considering the atrocious widespread abuse that currently threatens to remove Gordon Brown and possibly even the Labour Party from power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from the sometimes overenthusiastic editing (making the series sometimes feel a bit like the satire Hot Fuzz<\/em>), the only misstep is Nicholas Hooper’s percussive, bombastic score, including an incongruous didgeridoo-infused theme suddenly introduced in part six. But one of the series’ greatest pleasures is to hear Kelly Macdonald (a crush ever since her unforgettable performance as the ultimate naughty schoolgirl in Trainspotting<\/em>) pronounce “murder” with all the wonderful extra diphthongs her Scottish accent provides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Must read: BBC’s State of Play Left Me in a State of Awe<\/a> on Pop Culture Nerd<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2003 BBC miniseries State of Play is nothing less than six straight hours of intelligent drama, liberally spiced with suspense, action, and tasty plot twists. The entire epic tale is delivered by a veritable plethora of British Isles telly & film who’s who: writer Paul Abbot, director David Yates, and actors David Morrissey, John […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,424],"tags":[576,573,571,578,574,575,579,572,577,433,45,44],"class_list":["post-1830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-4-stars","category-tv","tag-bill-nighy","tag-david-morrissey","tag-david-yates","tag-james-mcavoy","tag-john-simm","tag-kelly-macdonald","tag-parliament","tag-paul-abbot","tag-philip-glenister","tag-polly-walker","tag-suspense","tag-thriller"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/state-of-play-2003-featured.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa9lhB-tw","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":164,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/the-girl-in-the-cafe\/","url_meta":{"origin":1830,"position":0},"title":"Kelly Macdonald and Bill Nighy bond over extreme poverty in The Girl in the Caf\u00e9","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"February 28, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Richard Curtis and David Yates' The Girl in the Caf\u00e9, a BBC movie aired in the US on HBO, was incredibly cute, and my heartstrings were indeed pulled, but I couldn't shake the sense the love story was mere dressing for the real purpose of the film: explicating the issue\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bill Nighy and Kelly Macdonald in The Girl in the Cafe","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/girl-in-the-cafe-featured.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/girl-in-the-cafe-featured.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/girl-in-the-cafe-featured.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/girl-in-the-cafe-featured.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/girl-in-the-cafe-featured.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6097,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/every-day-is-exactly-the-same-for-james-mcavoy-in-wanted\/","url_meta":{"origin":1830,"position":1},"title":"Every Day is Exactly the Same for James McAvoy in Wanted","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"December 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The Nine Inch Nails song \"Every Day is Exactly the Same\" is so thematically perfect for the early part of Timur Bekmambetov's Wanted, that it seems to have been composed especially. But Wanted is weighed down by an overly extensive backstory that goes back thousands of years, and an approach\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Angelina Jolie in Wanted","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/wanted-angelina-jolie.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/wanted-angelina-jolie.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/wanted-angelina-jolie.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/wanted-angelina-jolie.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/wanted-angelina-jolie.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7988,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/a-muggle-tries-to-make-sense-of-harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince\/","url_meta":{"origin":1830,"position":2},"title":"A muggle tries to make sense of Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"July 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"As Pottermania began some years ago, I recall being amazed at how similar it all seemed to Neil Gaiman's Books of Magic, which predates J.K. Rowling's first Harry Potter novel by about five years. In it, boy wizard Tim Hunter, equipped with broken glasses and an owl, is prophesied to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/harry-potter-half-blood-prince-cast.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/harry-potter-half-blood-prince-cast.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/harry-potter-half-blood-prince-cast.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/harry-potter-half-blood-prince-cast.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/harry-potter-half-blood-prince-cast.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":902,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/john-adams\/","url_meta":{"origin":1830,"position":3},"title":"Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney are the second first couple in Tom Hooper’s John Adams","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"July 4, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This blog celebrates Independence Day 2008 in a New York City Starbucks, tapping out a review of the HBO miniseries John Adams. Believe it or not, the timing is accidental, but July 4th has proven to be an auspicious date in American History. On-and-off-again friends and foes Thomas Jefferson and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Paul Giamatti in John Adams","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/john-adams-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/john-adams-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/john-adams-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/john-adams-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/john-adams-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5186,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/filmstruck-trainspotting\/","url_meta":{"origin":1830,"position":4},"title":"The treasures of FilmStruck include the Trainspotting commentary track","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"November 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Trainspotting is a lifelong personal favorite film. Essential. FilmStruck subscribers should be sure to catch it one more time before before WarnerMedia and AT&T cruelly shut it down on November 29. FilmStruck is full of more invaluable treasures than anyone could watch in two weeks, but I must single out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Movies"","block_context":{"text":"Movies","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/main-menu\/movies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Trainspotting","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/trainspotting-filmstruck.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/trainspotting-filmstruck.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/trainspotting-filmstruck.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/trainspotting-filmstruck.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/trainspotting-filmstruck.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1875,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/generation-kill\/","url_meta":{"origin":1830,"position":5},"title":"Semper Gumby: HBO’s Generation Kill","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"July 28, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The HBO miniseries Generation Kill comes from David Simon and Ed Burns, the masterminds behind the superlative series The Wire. Simon himself is a former journalist, the state of the industry thereof being a primary preoccupation of the fifth season of the The Wire. So it makes sense that he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Generation Kill","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/generation-kill.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/generation-kill.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/generation-kill.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/generation-kill.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/generation-kill.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1830"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6681,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1830\/revisions\/6681"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}