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.

As far as political thrillers go, State of Play is very good.