← Binge

Secret State (2012)

2012 · Drama,Mystery,Thriller · political-drama, contemporary-realistic

Secret State poster

Secret State is a taut, four-part British political thriller in which a reluctant Deputy Prime Minister (Gabriel Byrne) is thrust into the premiership amid a web of corporate malfeasance, government surveillance, and elite corruption that renders democratic power largely illusory. Adapted loosely from Chris Mullin's A Very British Coup, it updates the source novel's Cold War anxieties into post-2008 anxieties about banking bailouts, LIBOR manipulation, and the subordination of elected government to financial interests. The tone is brooding and cerebral rather than action-driven; Byrne's quiet, shadowed performance sets the register. Reviewers prize it as a rare piece of serious, contemporary political drama that names real structural problems without flinching.

From the reviewers

You get to the top and then you find out it's only the middle.
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.
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 story's attack on the banksters can't get more specific than that while still avoiding a libel action.

Explore all 293 prestige TV dramas on Binge →

The Curator's Index

Binge.

Curated Prestige Streaming

Opening up shop.

← Sightlines · the film atlas
Binge.

Curated Prestige Streaming

Find shows to watch based on real reviewer language. No collaborative filtering, no popularity boost. Your taste is the only algorithm here.

The collection

— shows

Browse the library. Filter by sub-genre, register, era, or popularity tier. Click a show to see its full characterization.

—