Season 1
The State Within is a British political thriller television series written by Lizzie Mickery and Daniel Percival and produced by Grainne Marmion as a joint BBC–BBC America production, which revolves around Sir Mark Brydon (Jason Isaacs), the British Ambassador to Washington at the centre of a political conspiracy threatening to depose Western governments.
The series originally aired in the United Kingdom on BBC1 from 2 November to 7 December, 2006. There are six hour-long episodes in the series.
The State Within premiered in South Africa on DStv's BBC Entertainment channel on Monday 9 March 2009, at 20h30.
Synopsis
When a British plane crashes in America, and it is discovered to be the work of a British-born suicide bomber, the special relationship between the two countries is threatened.
The UK’s Ambassador to Washington, Sir Mark Brydon (Jason Isaacs) has to work hard to maintain a show of solidarity, but behind the scenes there are tensions as emergency legislation is introduced.
Thrown into the mix are a mysterious British prisoner on Florida’s death row, a threatened coup of a central Asian country, an American Secretary of Defense on the warpath, and complicated private lives.
As Mark the Ambassador fights to prevent a looming war, Mark the man is faced with a terrible dilemma. In a world of high stakes where manipulation of information means ultimate power – who can Brydon trust?
As Mark slowly realises that he's being played by an invisible puppeteer, he cannot even begin to imagine where the conspiracy ends.
At what point do you sacrifice the truth for the sake of your nation? At what point do you sacrifice your nation for the truth?
As the body count rises and the betrayals unfold, the true heroes and villains are revealed.
The cast also includes Ben Daniels as Nicholas Brocklehurst, the Counsellor of External Affairs; Sharon Gless as Lynne Warner, the American Secretary of Defence; Lennie James as Luke Gardner, an ex-British paratrooper currently on Death Row for murder; Eva Birthistle as Jane Lavery, a Human Rights lawyer; Neil Pearson as Phil Lonsdale, Deputy Head of Mission, British Embassy; Alex Jennings as James Sinclair, ex-British Ambassador to Tyrgyzan; and Genevieve O'Reilly as Caroline Hanley, Senior Analyst, Foreign Relations, Lowenberg Institute.
The State Within was written by Lizzie Mickery and Daniel Percival, who penned 2004's Dirty War.
A co-production with BBC America, the producer is Grainne Marmion, directors are Michael Offer (Episodes 1,2,3) and Daniel Percival (Episodes 4,5,6). The executive producer is Jessica Pope.