State of Play

Now that was some quality viewing time. That's TV from the old days. Great plot, exceptional cast. That's basically all you need.

For about all but a half hour of its run-time, this is a fantastic - if occasionally unbelievable - miniseries about political corruption and journalism. It's like the British All the President's Men - yes it's that good - but with a little bit of soap thrown in. (Apparently they couldn't resist.) The one thing keeping it from being an all-timer, as mini-series go , is the ridiculous ending that does not in any way fit with the behaviour of one of the characters. It seems as though, rather than identifying a likely source of all this, the creators thought they had to "keep it in the family" by making a previously introduced character responsible. I get that from a dramatic standpoint, but it doesn't fit with that character's actions in the rest of the show. And that's too bad, because otherwise this is great stuff.