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Secret State

  • TV Mini Series
  • 20122012
  • 42m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
2.6K
YOUR RATING
Gabriel Byrne and Charles Dance in Secret State (2012)
Trailer for Secret State
Play trailer1:29
1 Video
22 Photos
DramaMysteryThriller
Secret State explores the relationship between a democratically elected government, big business and the banks.Secret State explores the relationship between a democratically elected government, big business and the banks.Secret State explores the relationship between a democratically elected government, big business and the banks.
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
2.6K
YOUR RATING
  • Stars
    • Gabriel Byrne
    • Ralph Ineson
    • Charles Dance
  • Stars
    • Gabriel Byrne
    • Ralph Ineson
    • Charles Dance
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 29User reviews
    • 4Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Episodes4

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated
    1 Season
    2012

    Videos1

    Secret State
    Trailer 1:29
    Watch Secret State

    Photos22

    Secret State (2012)
    Gabriel Byrne, Sylvestra Le Touzel, and Lia Williams in Secret State (2012)
    Gabriel Byrne in Secret State (2012)
    Sylvestra Le Touzel in Secret State (2012)
    Gabriel Byrne in Secret State (2012)
    Stephen Dillane in Secret State (2012)
    Gabriel Byrne, Charles Dance, Rupert Graves, and Sylvestra Le Touzel in Secret State (2012)
    Gabriel Byrne in Secret State (2012)
    Ruth Negga in Secret State (2012)
    Stephen Dillane in Secret State (2012)
    Rupert Graves in Secret State (2012)
    Gina McKee in Secret State (2012)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Gabriel Byrne
    Gabriel Byrne
    • Tom Dawkins
    Ralph Ineson
    Ralph Ineson
    • Sgt. Wrigglesworth
    Charles Dance
    Charles Dance
    • John Hodder
    Jamie Sives
    Jamie Sives
    • Lee Foulds
    Gina McKee
    Gina McKee
    • Ellis Kane
    Sylvestra Le Touzel
    Sylvestra Le Touzel
    • Ros Yelland
    Rupert Graves
    Rupert Graves
    • Felix Durrell
    Lia Williams
    Lia Williams
    • Laura Duchenne
    Anna Madeley
    Anna Madeley
    • Gina Hayes
    Ruth Negga
    Ruth Negga
    • Agnes Evans
    Al Weaver
    Al Weaver
    • Joss Leyton
    Stephen Dillane
    Stephen Dillane
    • Paul J. Clark
    Russell Kilmister
    Russell Kilmister
    • Nillis Jacobson…
    Danny Darren
    Danny Darren
    • Saeed Khan
    Alan Bentley
    • Funeral Attendant
    Johnny Topping
    • Agent
    Nicholas Farrell
    Nicholas Farrell
    • General Munnery
    Kika Markham
    Kika Markham
    • Carol Molloy
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

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    7.7
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    8.2
    A Very British Coup
    Prey
    7.2
    Prey
    State of Play
    8.4
    State of Play
    Rose and Maloney
    7.6
    Rose and Maloney
    The Silence
    7.1
    The Silence
    The Assets
    7.4
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    Dead Lucky
    6.7
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    Public Enemies
    7.0
    Public Enemies
    Spies of Warsaw
    6.7
    Spies of Warsaw

    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Various actors in this programme have also taken part in Game of Thrones (2011). These and their portraying characters includes Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister), Ralph Ineson (Dagmer Cleftjaw), Jamie Sives (Jory Cassell), Stephen Dillane (Stannis Baratheon), Anton Lesser (Qyburn) and Tobias Menzies (Edmure Tully).
    • Connections
      Featured in The Wright Stuff: Episode #17.220 (2012)

    User reviews29

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    9/10
    "You get to the top and then you find out that it's only the middle."
    This is a superb British TV thriller series. It is the second series based upon a novel written by Chris Mullin, formerly a Member of Parliament and a Government minister, who is a member of the Labour Party. The novel was called A VERY British COUP and it came out in 1982 and was originally made into a TV series in 1988. This new series bears little resemblance to the old. The new series stars Gabriel Byrne, an excellent choice, for his face now that it is older looks like something discerned in the shadows of a Rembrandt painting, and just looking at him creates a brooding and mysterious atmosphere. He doesn't speak that much, but thinks a lot, which makes the whole series even more ominous. When he becomes Prime Minister, he looks so gloomy that one wants to console him for his career success. Rupert Graves is so oily, treacherous, deceptive, and cunning, as a political villain who is a scheming Chancellor of the Exchequer determined to move next door to Number Ten, that he makes the flesh creep. The series was produced and directed by Ed Fraiman, who lives in California, graduated from the Polish Film School, and directs British and American TV series, so is clearly a cosmopolitan character. He has done a brilliant job of this one. In between all those different countries, one wonders how he came to know modern Britain so well. The pace and the tone are perfect. A great deal of the credit for this series working so superbly must go to Robert Jones, who wrote the scripts. The story of the series has been updated so as to be entirely relevant to the present day. One of the villainous organisations in the tale is a bank called Royal Caledonia Bank, which is described as being 88% owned by the British taxpayer because of a bailout. For those who don't know, Caledonia is a name for Scotland. This is therefore apparently a transparent disguise for the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is 84% owned by the British taxpayer. The story's attack on the banksters can't get more specific than that while still avoiding a libel action. The Chairman of the bank repeatedly sneers smugly at the Prime Minister and lets him know in no uncertain terms that he is a mere nobody, and it is the banks who are in charge of all the governments. When Byrne protests that the British Government owns the bank, the bankster brazenly says he can move the headquarters offshore at any time. It would be difficult to find a single informed person in Britain today who would find these scenes in any way unrealistic, as it is so obvious by now that the banks are in charge and the politicians really are mere nobodies, that not even an eyebrow is raised anymore when this comes up. The international bank bailouts are merely gigantic transfers of public funds into the private hands of an elite international group of crooks, and it takes a pretty stupid person not to see that by now. When it was revealed that the international banks were conspiring to fix the LIBOR rate, why was no one surprised? After all, it only affected a few trillion dollars worth of transactions a year, and what is a few trillion dollars between bankster friends? It seems that there is no politician willing to stop any of these abuses, because at the least he would lose his position, and at worst he might have 'an accident'. And in any case, many of the politicians are personally benefiting financially from being cooperative, especially when they have safely retired and settled comfortably into the pocket of some bank who needs their 'advice'. What famous grinning person is it who is paid £2 million a year for 'advising' a major bank? Can you guess? Try really hard. So the series addresses these issues, and does so in a bare-knuckled assault on the massive and overwhelming corruption in our public life. As Byrne sadly remarks, when reminded that he is the Prime Minister: 'You get to the top and then you find out it's only the middle.'
    helpful•34
    4
    • robert-temple-1
    • Nov 3, 2013

    Details

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    • Release date
      • November 7, 2012 (United Kingdom)
      • United Kingdom
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Production companies
      • Company Pictures
      • Newscope Films
      • Channel 4 Television Corporation
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 42 minutes
      • Color
      • Stereo

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