State of Play (Season 1)

State of Play (2003) is a BBC political thriller you can watch online on iFILM. A young parliamentary researcher dies under a London tube train, and reporter Cal McCaffrey starts pulling the thread — one that runs straight into Westminster.

Director David Yates, years before the Harry Potter films, keeps six episodes wound tight. David Morrissey plays the rising MP whose career is coming apart; Bill Nighy is the newsroom editor who'll print anything that sells; Kelly Macdonald and John Simm chase the parts of the story the police can't touch. A very young James McAvoy turns up along the way.

It's a story about the wall between journalism and influence-peddling: oil lobbies, surveillance, deals struck behind closed doors. Hollywood later remade it with Russell Crowe, yet the original miniseries is still the one critics point to. Best for viewers who like their mysteries slow and methodical, where the sharpest weapon is a phone call and an old contacts book. Stream State of Play online on iFILM.