Deanna
There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.
robert-temple-1
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 The novel was called A VERY British COUP and it came out in 1982 and was originally made into a TV series in 1988.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.'
robinirving18
Absolutely loved this honestly refreshing to see channel 4 producing a great series with a phenomenal cast, Yes the plot is a bit far-fetched the point of television is escapism and this is gripping and renews hope that your vote counts. Great message and Gabriel Byrne leads this role fantastically. Anyone who goes away and watches this will only be disappointed by the lack of episodes. The series is very short and leaves you desperately wanting more and I really hope a second series is on the cards. For the cynics of the world such as guardian writers they really haven't seen the point of this series. This series really captures the viewers imagination and reminds of hope and that is brilliant.
Oneillmike
Good cast and exciting plot. I think that in order to raise the excitement and make Tom Dawkins more vulnerable they gave him no friends or allies at all. It seems he had no one in the intelligence or military services that he could trust and was constantly fed bad or no information. He was very isolated and this was not really believable, as was his inability to protect the GCHQ girl who was helping him. I thought he was Prime Minister ! Having made those criticisms I was entertained and I thought Byrne was excellent as was the supporting cast. Nice to see Stephen Dillane on the box again. The good guy lost so any chance of a follow up series ?
Flossie Cat
Back in 1987 Channel 4 led the UK in cutting edge dramas. Last week we got episode one of "Secret State", allegedly 'loosely' based Alan Plater's superb adaptation of Chris Mullin's book "A Very British Coup". What a difference. The premise was good, a Bhopal style disaster in Teeside, the casting included some of Britain's finest talent, and the production values were very good.All this was completely wasted by a script that was puerile, full of clichéd soundbites, and by lousy directing and a cast of stock characters that would have made it into Michael Green's "The Art of Coarse Acting". We had a gonad crunching ambitious female politician, a smarmy yuppie-type ambitious politician, a drunken journo/ex-spook who knows where the metaphorical and possibly literal bodies are buried, and a young feisty journo who pops up with information nobody else has ever heard of.Has Mr Jones never watched "Yes Minister" or "The Thick of It"?His opening scenario was ludicrous. In real life the deputy PM would not be sitting in a local school hall being harangued by angry residents. That thankless task would have gone to some junior underling at the Energy Department. Nor does a pathologist have the power to withhold bodies from being released for burial, that authority lies with the Coroner. If a pathologist had serious concerns about unexplained toxins in body tissue s/he would have consulted their colleagues in the Home Office. Nor would said pathologist be telephoning the Deputy PM as if that individual was the only person with authority in the entire governmental system.Given the apparent assassination of the PM by a possible terrorist plot how did Ms Kane (alias Gina McKee) manage to get past security to speak to the Deputy PM at aforementioned PM's memorial service? Come to that, where WAS the security?And why was the head of Intelligence doing her own surveillance work? Does she not have an entire government department dedicated solely for that purpose?The whole thing seemed to be aimed at not very bright 14 year olds. Do the TV networks really think the viewing public is that dumb? For shame Channel 4. You've exchanged your credibility for dumbed down broadcasting. You have the temerity to advertise dross like this as 'Drama' while your schedules are chock full of freak shows, crass talent shows, and the dregs of society being filmed in their 'natural habitat' in what passes for "reality" television.
