The State Within : Complete BBC Series [2006] | ![The State Within : Complete BBC Series [2006]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51xb3yrf0HL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Directors: Michael Offer, Daniel Percival
Actors: Jason Isaacs, Sharon Gless, Neil Pearson, Ben Daniels
Studio: 2 Entertain Video
Category: DVD
List Price: £24.99
Buy New: £4.99
You Save: £20.00 (80%)
New (15) Used (1) from £4.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 2613
Format: Anamorphic, Dolby, Dts Surround Sound, Pal, Subtitled
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Number Of Items: 2
Running Time: 351
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5014503225025
ASIN: B000K15G7G
Theatrical Release Date: 2006
Release Date: January 22, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: NEW & SEALED - Brand New.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Truth, lies and political expedience September 28, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
A cracking political thriller with most of the action Washington based and involving governments, private companies and perhaps predictably, a small oil-rich Asian country (Trygyzstan, Tyrgyztan or Tyrygsztan depending how quick your eyes are) so the events are very contemporary and mostly credible, too.
The 350 minutes get off to a stunning start with an airliner being blown up and crashing onto an expressway near Washington and from this point on you'll be hooked like I was. Considering this is not big bucks Hollywood the crash looked incredibly convincing, as does everything else though it was mostly filmed in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario.
The six parts move along efficiently, especially with plenty of steadycam and accompanying sound effects, but you'll have to pay attention because this is not black and white plotting, the good guys are not obvious and there is no winning side. The casting is fine with Jason Isaacs turning in a great British Ambassador and perhaps Sharon Gless should be taken on by Department of Defence as their no-nonsense Secretary (but maybe her hands are tainted, too). Nothing is what it seems at first.
The DVD includes a twenty-seven minute 'making of' extra. Worth a look though it is the usual back slapping stuff. Several minutes are devoted to creating the airliner crash, which I thought were interesting and Grainne Marmion has some good comments on how she interpreted the production.
This is a conspiracy thriller that will certainly be worth watching several times.
excellent September 28, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I watched this when it was on television and found it gripping. The plot is intelligent and the characters are intense. There is so little quality drama on TV this was a real find.
Intriguing September 11, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
If you can follow the plot and don't mind a slowish pace then this is well acted intelligent drama. There is action so I do not understand the accusations of it being dull. Maybe there are some plot holes but there usually are if you look hard enough. There are some great twists in this.
 The TV equivalent of an airport novel June 28, 2007
5 out of 16 found this review helpful
The State Within was apparently planned to be some kind of thoughtful thriller about the 'special relationship' between the UK and the USA. It is indeed about that, although it doesn't tell you anything that you couldn't have got from a decent in-depth newspaper article in a reasonably critical paper.
However, it's not a John Pilger documentary. It's supposed to be entertainment, and in that respect it crashes almost as badly as the airliner that descends onto the Beltway in the opening five minutes of Episode 1 (that's the dramatic high point of the whole thing, by the way). It's not that the acting is bad, although some of the supporting players chew the scenery so much that the set dentist must have had his work cut out. Jason Isaacs is a brilliant actor when he's given something to work with; Ben Daniels was very good in the only other thing I saw him in (the HBO movie 'Conspiracy' about the Wannsee conference); Neil Pearson has a genius for comedy; Sharon Gless was the definitive Christine Cagney, for goodness sake.
It's the writers' fault. The script is so efficient that it's boring; if a character has to tell another character that so-and-so has been found dead, they say "So-and-so has been found dead", and the other character looks a bit stunned. The script doesn't give anyone any character; you don't care who these people are, because no thriller cliche is left unuttered by them. "This has gone far enough!" "I'm on my way!" "I liked your father. He was a good man. But it had to be done." "I thought you loved me!" The writers manage to dripfeed enough tension into the thing to make you keep watching, but only in order to find out how it ended, not out of any hope of positive enjoyment.
Also, there are holes in the plot through which you could taxi an Airbus 380. The most glaring one is when the bad guys hire a hooker to set up one of the good guys, an ex-diplomat. He and she are about to get it on in a dark alleyway when the bad guys appear out of nowhere and slit her throat, then they put his prints all over the knife, rub her blood all over his clothes and warn him that if he doesn't stop interfering, they'll send the knife to the cops. Gibbering with fear, he submits to this. But then, the bad guys spot a homeless guy in the shadows who's witnessed the murder. Do they put a bullet in the homeless guy's head? No! They give him a hundred bucks and tell him to keep his mouth shut!!! The mind reels.
Even a fine young actress like Eva Birthistle can't do anything with the cardboard dialogue and clanking plot. The only actor who manages to inject any fun into her role is Marnie McPhail as a hard-pressed and slightly dishevelled FBI agent - never heard of her before, but she's great.
This is wildly overrated and, like I said, depressingly unentertaining. Thrillers are supposed to thrill, not keep you watching out of sheer bloody-mindedness.
 Involving political thriller May 25, 2007
21 out of 21 found this review helpful
This certainly turned out to be a most satisfying alternative to the usual TV thrillers out there that rely on police procedure or crime solving. Here, the lynch pin of the story is Sir Mark Dryden, the British Ambassador to the US, played by Jason Isaacs. Frankly, this is probably the most effective role I have seen him in, and is certainly a world away from playing Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter movies.
This is a truly British type of story, with dominantly British characters and with a complex plot. However, it is set in America, featuring all the landmarks we would expect to see in an American thriller.. the West Wing, Lincoln Memorial, etc. To add to the American mix, we even have a recognizable star of American TV - Sharon Gless, who completely casts aside her past in Cagney and Lacey here to embrace the role of Secretary of Defence with a real sense of grit.
Perhaps the most British aspect of this series is the underlying criticism of certain aspects of government - not least The Patriot Act which comes under fire along the way. Certainly terrorism and its origins are at the very foreground of the action.
To reveal too much about the plot would be unfair, but in a nutshell, Sir Mark is caught up in a web of deceit when a plane leaving for London is blown up, apparently by terrorists. Meantime, a Brit is on Death Row protesting his innocence. Could the two be connected...? Suffice to say many more plot strands arise, and interweave in a manner designed to satisfy and keep you glued to the end.
A 6 part mini-series, one hour per episode, was the perfect format for this thriller - instead of a rushed movie, the characters have enough time to develop and breathe, while the plot never slacks pace.
The only criticism to be made, is that they have followed the American model of TV making just a little too far with the ultra rapid editing and `24' style jump cuts. There is enough thrill on the screen from the plot and the acting without this rather incongruous attempt at accentuating the kinetics - without this minor quibble, this would be a 5 star gem.
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