I give it 3/10 for the performances of the actors, the assured direction of SJ Clarkson, and for the intent of the writer, David Hare, though not his execution.
This mini series attempted a lot but didn't really deliver. It's as if Hare took a random selection of clippings of newspaper stories he thought interesting and tried to weave them altogether into a state of the nation play. Something about terrorism? Put that in. Immigration? Got to have that. The Army? Of course. MI5? Probably should. Politics? Yep. The Church? Might as well.
Some hot topics and a bold attempt, but it didn't work. There were needless characters and subplots, ridiculous and contrived relationships and situations, and extremely clunky exchanges of dialogue, as well as cartoonish characters, particularly the MI5 guy. Maybe you can get away with that on stage where you need to include more exposition and can be less subtle. But not on screen.
To the reviewers who say it's too clever for some viewers: Nah. It's really not. Clever is letting the audience connect the dots themselves and come to their own conclusions. I don't mind a writer putting their opinions and politics into their stories; that's their prerogative and I like to be challenged to think. This didn't challenge me. It punched me in the face repeatedly to the point where I felt I was being bullied and forced to agree. Naturally, I resisted that affront to my intelligence, and that really put me off liking this show, whether I agreed with some of the sentiments or not.
All in all, this didn't amount to much and the ambition far exceeded the execution, which is a shame because the ideas and the cast had promise.
