Line #6 Series/StateOfPlay


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/state_of_play.jpg]]
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3	2003 BritishConspiracyThriller MiniSeries starring David Morrissey as Stephen Collins, a rising star MP whose researcher dies on UsefulNotes/TheLondonUnderground, and John Simm as Cal [=McCaffrey=], an old friend of Collins' who managed his first election campaign and now works as the reporter investigating her death. What starts out as a tabloidy hatchet job quickly turns out to be the tip of a ''very'' big iceberg, and the reporters manage to uncover all sorts of unwholesome facts about the government.
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5	Directed by [=pre-=]''Film/HarryPotter'' Creator/DavidYates. [[Film/StateOfPlay Later adapted into a film starring Russell Crowe]].
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7	!!This miniseries contains examples of:
8	* AllForNothing: [[spoiler:Stephen finds out the secretary he's having an affair with is TheMole for the multinational oil company he's investigating. He feels both betrayed and in a bind (he can't just fire her) so he looks the other way when his old army buddy decides to kill her, only to find out afterwards that she had decided to stop spying for her employer because she was InLoveWithTheMark.]]
9	%% * BadLiar: Dominic Foy.
10	* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler:The government has known all along about TheMole, but don't tell Stephen as the oil industry is making the changes they want to preempt his inquiry, avoiding a costly battle with the multinationals which would damage the economy.]]
11	* BitchInSheepsClothing: a mild variation in Stephen Collins. On the outside he is a NiceGuy, a calm, quiet man, deeply saddened and sorry for what has happened, contrite and ashamed of what he has done. However, when something happens to make him angry he can turn into a self-righteous hypocrite, attacking whoever is on hand with scathing and cruel insults, where he [[NeverMyFault pushes any blame onto someone else]].
12	** The most telling example of his character is when he finds out that [[spoiler:his wife started an affair after she separated from him when his own was revealed to the nation]]. What he says to both Anne and Cal show that he really thinks of both of them as pathetic, damaged, disgusting and inferior to him (remembering that he has been crying for sympathy from both of them from the very start), and then he comes home and bitches out his own son extensively, blaming both him and Anne for "looking at him sideways" and "driving him away", essentially neglecting him and making him commit the affair in the first place.
13	%% * BittersweetEnding
14	%% * ButtMonkey: Dominic Foy.
15	* CoolOldGuy: Cameron Foster. Cool, calm and collected, he orchestrates the reporters' tactics on the story, and his sense of pride for his protegés is completely palpable.
16	* ConspiracyTheorist: All the reporters. [[ProperlyParanoid They're right]].
17	** Subverted though [[spoiler:as the murders which kick off the investigation aren't by the secret service or the evil multinationals -- they're carried out for purely personal reasons.]]
18	%% * CorruptCorporateExecutive
19	%% * CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: [[spoiler:If the government had just let Stephen in on their conspiracy... ]]
20	%% * DaEditor: Cameron Foster, a combination of BigGood, Magnificent Bastard and DeadpanSnarker played by a show-stealingly brilliant Bill Nighy.
21	%% * EveryManHasHisPrice: Dominic Foy certainly does.
22	* FriendOnTheForce:
23	** DCI Bell becomes this for the journalists when [[spoiler: it becomes clear that [[GovernmentConspiracy his superiors]] want the case prematurely closed]].
24	** DI Brown is one for Della [[spoiler: before he gets killed]].
25	%% * GambitPileup: Oh dear God yes. Just ''try'' keeping track of Stephen.
26	* GoingForTheBigScoop: The journalists are variously threatened, blackmailed, burgled, held at gunpoint and ordered to stop by their boss, ''his'' boss and a High Court judge and ''still'' persist.
27	* HeadphonesEqualIsolation: The hotel cook completely fails to notice a hitman and a policeman running past him with guns.
28	* HealthcareMotivation: When Dan suggests his father is selling out for not pushing harder to get the story published, Cameron reminds him of his mother’s medical bills.
29	%% * HeroicBSOD: Cal, though fairly short-lived.
30	%% * IfItBleedsItLeads: The brutal murders are what kickstart the investigation.
31	%% * IntrepidReporter: Cal. And Della. And Dan. And Helen. And Pete. And Syd (sort of).
32	%% * JerkAss: Dominic Foy.
33	%% * LoveHurts
34	* MoralMyopia: Quite a bit of this going around. On an average everyday level, there is Stephen, who expects understanding and sacrifice from the people in his life when he has a year-long affair with his employee, yet [[spoiler: has a tantrum when his own wife has an affair afterwards when they are separated]], making those same people - e.g. his wife, who previously lied for him in a press conference to cover for his infidelity - suffer from his anger. On a criminal level there is [[spoiler: oil and lobby executives as well as significant parliamentary figures who believe they are perfectly justified in destroying people's lives and[=/=]or ''killing'' them, while taking immediate offense (read: intimidation, threats and ''proactive'' steps) to people digging into ''their'' lives to discover the truth]].
35	* NomDeMom: Cameron tells Dan the articles he writes will be under his mother's maiden name. And not call him "Dad" when they are in the newsroom.
36	%% * NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Poor Dominic. He just can't catch a break.
37	* NoPartyGiven: While it's pretty obvious that Stephen (along with the government) is Labour - e.g. he mentions the Tories as opponents - it's never actually stated.
38	%% * NotQuiteDead: The motorcycle courier who witnesses the shooting at the start.
39	* OneHeadTaller: Creator/KellyMacdonald at five-foot-three is dwarfed by some of her costars, especially the six-foot-six Creator/RoryMcCann.
40	%% * PsychoForHire
41	* PrecisionFStrike: "They're offering me a seat. I'll tell them to fuck themselves."
42	** "Precision" is the operative word here - the above is delivered not in speech but in written notes. In ''Parliament'' no less...!
43	** "You're like peas in a fucking pod!"
44	* RewatchBonus: [[spoiler:Stephen's breakdown at the initial press conference hints at his affair with Sonia, but it's not until the end that you realize he's also traumatized by the fact that he was responsible for her death]].
45	* WhamLine: Two of them:
46	** [[spoiler: "She'd (Sonia) fallen in love with Collins. She'd gotten herself pregnant to him."]] This inspires the NoHoldsBarredBeatdown.
47	** [[spoiler: "Sonia meeting Paul Canning on a daily basis down at the Trocadero, telling him everything!"]] Cal doesn't realize the significance of this at first, but when he plays the tape back, [[spoiler: he realizes only the PsychoForHire knew this information, and the only way Stephen could know it is if he was the one who hired him]].

Context Series / StateOfPlay