State of Play - other recs?

[tzikeh]

Two friends of mine just saw State of Play, and are desperate for other quality British shows on par with that--especially thriller action-type shows.

I have Spooks recommended. They've already seen Life on Mars and adored it. They've seen Hustle and adored that one as well.

Anyone have some recs for me?

OMG WTF ETA: The UK show Spooks is called MI-5 in the U.S. Season One DVDs at amazon.com say 360 minutes. Season 1 DVDs at the UK amazon asy 460 minutes. I'm assuming, therefore, that the DVDs in America are of the BBCA version, where they cut all the swearing and nudity. WTF?? Is this some sort of typo, or is America so sad that they can't even release the complete show on DVD?

Comments

[svilleficrecs.livejournal.com]

The Fixer, from earlier this year, starring Andrew Buchan. 6 eps, sort of... La Femme Nikita meets british ganster flicks, gorgeously shot, awesome reluctant assassin lead, funny, by the same people who brought you Spooks and LIM, I think..

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

ooh NEAT. Will look.

[slb44.livejournal.com]

I'd highly rec Wire in the Blood.

[infinitemonkeys.livejournal.com]

1)The ur-conspiracy drama, Edge of Darkness; first screened in 1985, part crime drama, part ecological thriller with a touch of science fiction, about a police officer whose environmental activist daughter is killed in front of him. It has ghosts, the CIA, a suggestion of the knights templar and the Gaia hypothesis. It won loads of awards. There are rumours of a remake starring Mel Gibson, which is enough to make the baby Elvis weep.

2) Between The Lines Early 90s drama series about a fast-track, cocky, philandering police officer, Tony Clark, who is sent to work in the equivalent of internal affairs, investigating bent coppers and gets a nasty case of a conscience. The first series has a stealth arc, a really upsetting death and two of the best supporting characters ever in Mo and Harry, Clark's two fellow investigators. Second series is also good, third series is pants.

3) The Crow Road Based on Iain Banks' book, a four-part drama set in Scotland about Prentice McHoan's attempt to find out what happened to his Uncle Rory, who disappeared 10 years before, and discovers family secrets along the way. It's funny, endearing and it has Peter Capaldi

4) Our Friends In The North A wonderful sprawling account of the lives of four friends over 31 years, taking in some of the real scandals that embroiled Newcastle and the UK in general. Stars Chris Eccleston, Gina McKee, Mark Strong and Daniel Craig.

Aside from that, the Paul McGann/David Morrissey version of Our Mutual Friend is one of the best things I've ever seen; Holding On is a really good drama in that old style of showing six stories then you find out at the end how they're all linked.

There's a new show starting on the BBC once Dr Who is finished, called Bonekickers, which is being sold as part-Indiana Jones, part-Time Team and part-Da Vinci Code, from the people who created Life on Mars. It will either be magnificent or dreadful.

[hello. I stuck you on the reading list because you seemed to be saying interesting things. Hope this is all right]

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Wow - these are *excellent* recommendations. I love it when folks go beyond "I suggest this!" into "here's why, and my personal opinion, and third season is pants" (can I just say how much I love the word "pants" as "terrible"? I learned it from watching BBC and being an Anglophile and really, American English just doesn't have a word with quite that hilarious-yet-awful flavor).

[hello. I stuck you on the reading list because you seemed to be saying interesting things. Hope this is all right]

No. Go away and never come back. I don't like smart, fun people who answer my questions.

[isagel.livejournal.com]

I don't think I've seen Edge of Darkness since somewhen in the eighties, but I will never forget it. It made a huge impact on me, and I'm thrilled to see someone else is still reccing it. I also heartily second the recs for Between the Lines and Our Mutual Friend, which blew my mind (OMG, David Morrissey!).

[phoenix64.livejournal.com]

For smart political thrillers, I'd recommend The State Within, a UK mini with Jason Isaacs and Sharon Gless (yes, really). If they can get ahold of it, the Canadian mini H2O and its sequel Trojan Horse.

Now I'm curious about Spooks. It does indeed look like the Region 1 release is the US broadcast version. Feh. I'd only watched a few episodes, but recently I was wanting to catch up a bit, with Richard Armitage joining the show for series 7.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I totally second these recs, especially State Within. It's excellent and Jason is teh sex, which so doesn't hurt.

I honestly don't know about the MI:5 thing, but I do know the DVDs are a lot longer than the original eps A&E aired initially. I haven't seen it since it moved to BBC A, but I do remember more swearing and such. They could be something of a hybrid, I suppose -- longer eps, no adult content cuts, but not as long as the originals in the UK. However, I will say that at least for the first few seasons, the eps were 15 min. or more longer.

[vonnie-k.livejournal.com]

I don't know if your friends like British crime procedurals. If so, they could do worse than checking out Second Sight, starring Clive Owen as DCI Tanner, a talented detective in Scotland Yard who's slowly going blind from a rare eye disease. The episodes are self-contained stories, but there is obviously an ongoing character arc of Tanner dealing with his gradual loss of vision and his effort to keep this a secret from the rest of the force. There are two seasons, both quite good. Owen is magnificent in it, and whole thing is gripping and quite sad although not maudlin. For a bonus, there is a terribly slashy relationship between Owen's character and a new detective who might be wise to his secret in series 2.

The Robson Green/Nicola Walker series, Touching Evil, is in a similar vein. I recall series 1 had a quite a tidy plot arc cumulating on shocking note.

[finabair.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen State of Play, but I'm personally rather fond of ITV's Primeval, which I've seen described as Jurassic Park meets Doctor Who - it's got time travel and dinosaurs, and definitely qualifies for 'action'. It's had 2 series so far and is picked up for a third. It's also supposed to run on BBCA come August.

[ellie-i.livejournal.com]

Cracker () is wonderful beyond words to describe - I'd go so far as to say one of the best UK series ever. Robbie Coltrane (yes, Hagrid) acts everyone else off screen as this amazingly complex, charismatic bastard (and he is a bastard (http://youtube.com/watch?v=mMcpmiEubvg)) of a forensic psychologist. There are routinely great performances in pretty much every episode, including appearances from the young Christopher Eccleston and a very pre-Life on Mars, psycho toy-boy John Simm (http://youtube.com/watch?v=8kcPt_5yKm0&feature=related), and psychological tension all over the place. Great fun!

[ellie-i.livejournal.com]

Oh, sorry, that first link is to Cracker (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105977/).

[melina123.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what the listing says, but the DVDs of MI-5 in region 1 are the full, uncut versions, 58 or 59 minutes each or thereabouts. As far as I know the edited versions are not on DVD at all.

[phoenix64.livejournal.com]

I asked in another forum and finally someone answered and told me that their Region 1 DVD eps are 60 minutes long. So it looks like some bad listing information that's just being re-copied.

Whew. With BBC America pulling the show from their schedule, that was really pissing me off. I actually try and watch these shows legally when I can.