State of Play
Encyclopedia
State of Play is a six-part British television
drama serial directed by David Yates
and written by Paul Abbott
. The serial, first broadcast on BBC One
in 2003, was produced in-house by the BBC
in association with the independent production company Endor Productions. It starred David Morrissey
, John Simm
, Kelly Macdonald
, Polly Walker
, Bill Nighy
, and James McAvoy
, telling the story of a newspaper's investigation into the death of a young woman, and centres on the relationship between the leading journalist and his old friend, who is a Member of Parliament and the murdered woman's employer.
as Della Smith and Bill Nighy
as editor Cameron Foster) it appears that not only were the deaths connected, but that a conspiracy links them with oil industry-backed corruption of high-ranking British government ministers. However, it later transpires that Collins may have known more than he was letting on.
Jane Tranter
asked whether he would rather write something "bigger" than he had usually written so far in his career. The serial was Abbott's third major writing project for the BBC, following Clocking Off
(2000–2003) and Linda Green
(2001–2002). State of Play was also a major turning point in David Yates' directorial career, as he began to direct various high-profile television projects.
Transmitted on BBC One on Sunday evenings at 9pm, State of Play consisted of six one-hour episodes and ran from 18 May to 22 June 2003. Episodes two to five were actually premiered on the digital television
station BBC Four
at 10pm on the nights of the preceding episodes' BBC One showings – episode six was held back for a premiere on BBC One so as not to allow the final twists to be spoiled for those who did not have access to digital television. In 2004, the serial ran in the United States on the BBC's BBC America
cable channel.
In 2005 the serial was released on DVD by BBC Worldwide
, in a two-disc set. Episode one features an audio commentary from Abbott and Yates, and episode six a commentary from Yates, producer Hilary Bevan-Jones and editor Mark Day
.
The success of the production led to Abbott being commissioned to write a sequel, which as of January 2006 was partly written– it was commissioned before the first had even been transmitted, so impressed were BBC executives with the original. However, by 2006 the second series appeared to have officially been abandoned. Abbott, talking to Mark Lawson
on BBC Radio 4
's Front Row
in November 2006, said that he couldn't find a way to make the story work. However, on 25 April 2007, Abbott was quoted in the Sun newspaper as saying that he was currently writing scripts for a second, six-episode series of State of Play, with John Simm and Bill Nighy reprising their roles.
newspaper the day after it had aired, Gareth McLean
wrote that "...it's bloody magic. The story is gripping, the acting is ace and Paul Abbott's script is outstanding. His ear for dialogue, and for different voices, is exceptional. The exposition is swift, nifty and joyously unclunky. The characters are credible and rounded. If you can count the best dramas of recent years on the fingers of both hands, it's time to grow a new finger."
Other newspaper critics were similarly impressed with the opening installment. In The Times
, Paul Hoggart
wrote that "Two excellent performances [from Morrissey and Simm] ensure that the relationship has a turbulent dynamism that is credible and engaging." James Walton
in The Daily Telegraph
was more cautious, feeling that the opening episode had been promising but the serial as a whole still had the potential to go wrong. "At this stage however, the programme is certainly good enough to make me hope not and to ensure that I'll be back next week to find out."
The consensus appeared to be that the serial did maintain its quality to the end. Previewing episode four, Jonathan Wright
of The Guide section in The Guardian described it as "A political conspiracy thriller that's as buttock-clenchingly tense as Edge of Darkness
, as cynical about the British political system as House of Cards
, and stands comparisons to both." The television critic of The Independent
, Tom Sutcliffe
, wrote of the final episode: "I'm not sure that a thriller can end in anything other than anti- climax. If it has been good you're sad it's over, and if it ends badly you're quite likely to feel that you've been duped. Paul Abbott's State of Play, which has had me swallowing double doses on a Sunday evening whenever the schedules allowed, left us with the first kind of let-down rather than the second."
Bill Nighy won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for his role. The series also won BAFTAs for Best Sound (Fiction/Entertainment) and Best Editing (Fiction/Entertainment). It was nominated, but did not win, in the Best Actor category again, for Morrissey; in the Best Drama Serial category; Best Original Television Music and Best Photography and Lighting. It also won major awards from the Royal Television Society
, Banff Television Festival, Broadcasting Press Guild
, Cologne Conference
, Directors Guild of Great Britain, Edgar Award
s, and the Monte Carlo TV Festival.
into a feature film that was released in the United States in April 2009. The plot retained substantial similarities to the original six-hour series, retaining the main characters, but with its location changed to Washington, D.C., and with certain aspects condensed and changed in order to fit the two-hour format.
The adaptation is directed by Kevin Macdonald
and is written by Matthew Michael Carnahan
. Ben Affleck
, Russell Crowe
, Rachel McAdams
and Helen Mirren
appear in the lead roles. In an April 2009 interview to promote the film, Affleck, who plays Congressman Stephen Collins, said he drew on the experiences of Gary Condit
, Eliot Spitzer
, and John Edwards
while preparing for the role. The film was generally well received, but not as lauded as the series.
– Paul Abbott. ITV
. Sunday 15 May 2005.
British television
Public television broadcasting started in the United Kingdom in 1936, and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channelsTaking the base Sky EPG TV Channels. A breakdown is impossible due to a) the number of...
drama serial directed by David Yates
David Yates
David Yates is an English filmmaker who rose to mainstream prominence directing the final four films in the Harry Potter film series. He helmed the series' fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth installments, all of which became an instant blockbuster success and made him the most commercially...
and written by Paul Abbott
Paul Abbott
Paul Abbott is a BAFTA award-winning English television screenwriter and producer. Abbott has become one of the most critically and commercially successful television writers working in Britain today, following his work on many popular series, including Coronation Street, Cracker and Shameless,...
. The serial, first broadcast on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
in 2003, was produced in-house by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in association with the independent production company Endor Productions. It starred David Morrissey
David Morrissey
David Mark Morrissey is an English actor and director. Morrissey grew up in the Kensington and Knotty Ash areas of Liverpool, and learned to act at the city's Everyman Youth Theatre. At the age of 18, he was cast in the television series One Summer , which won him recognition throughout the country...
, John Simm
John Simm
John Simm is an English stage and screen actor. In recent years he is best known for his roles as Sam Tyler in the detective drama Life on Mars and as The Master in the revival of the science fiction series Doctor Who, but he has also starred in many highly acclaimed award-winning television...
, Kelly Macdonald
Kelly Macdonald
Kelly Macdonald is a Scottish actress, known for her role in the independent film Trainspotting and mainstream releases such as Nanny McPhee, Gosford Park, Intermission, No Country for Old Men and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2...
, Polly Walker
Polly Walker
Polly Walker is an English actress.- Early life :Walker was born in Warrington, Cheshire, England. Her first school was Silverdale Preparatory West Acton, London. At 16, Walker graduated from Ballet Rambert School in Twickenham, began her career as a dancer, but had to abandon dancing after a leg...
, Bill Nighy
Bill Nighy
William Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...
, and James McAvoy
James McAvoy
James McAvoy is a Scottish stage and screen actor. He made his acting debut as a teen in 1995's The Near Room and continued to make mostly television appearances until the early 2000s. His notable television work includes State of Play, Shameless, and Frank Herbert's Children of Dune...
, telling the story of a newspaper's investigation into the death of a young woman, and centres on the relationship between the leading journalist and his old friend, who is a Member of Parliament and the murdered woman's employer.
Cast
- David MorrisseyDavid MorrisseyDavid Mark Morrissey is an English actor and director. Morrissey grew up in the Kensington and Knotty Ash areas of Liverpool, and learned to act at the city's Everyman Youth Theatre. At the age of 18, he was cast in the television series One Summer , which won him recognition throughout the country...
as Stephen Collins, a Labour MP - John SimmJohn SimmJohn Simm is an English stage and screen actor. In recent years he is best known for his roles as Sam Tyler in the detective drama Life on Mars and as The Master in the revival of the science fiction series Doctor Who, but he has also starred in many highly acclaimed award-winning television...
as Cal McCaffrey, reporter and Stephen Collins' former campaign manager - Kelly MacdonaldKelly MacdonaldKelly Macdonald is a Scottish actress, known for her role in the independent film Trainspotting and mainstream releases such as Nanny McPhee, Gosford Park, Intermission, No Country for Old Men and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2...
as Della Smith, reporter - Bill NighyBill NighyWilliam Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...
as Cameron Foster, editor of The Herald - Polly WalkerPolly WalkerPolly Walker is an English actress.- Early life :Walker was born in Warrington, Cheshire, England. Her first school was Silverdale Preparatory West Acton, London. At 16, Walker graduated from Ballet Rambert School in Twickenham, began her career as a dancer, but had to abandon dancing after a leg...
as Anne Collins, wife of Stephen Collins - James McAvoyJames McAvoyJames McAvoy is a Scottish stage and screen actor. He made his acting debut as a teen in 1995's The Near Room and continued to make mostly television appearances until the early 2000s. His notable television work includes State of Play, Shameless, and Frank Herbert's Children of Dune...
as Dan Foster, reporter, son of Cameron Foster - Philip GlenisterPhilip GlenisterPhilip Haywood Glenister is an English actor, known for his role as DCI Gene Hunt in British television series Life On Mars and its sequel Ashes To Ashes.-Television and films:...
as DCI William Bell - Marc WarrenMarc WarrenMarc Warren is an English actor, known for his British television roles as Danny Blue in Hustle, Dougie Raymond in The Vice and Dominic Foy in State of Play.-Career:...
as Dominic Foy - James LaurensonJames LaurensonJames Laurenson is a New Zealand actor, who has performed many classical roles on stage and television.Laurenson was born in Marton, New Zealand...
as George Fergus, Energy Minister - Amelia BullmoreAmelia BullmoreAmelia Bullmore is an English actress and writer. She was born in London and studied drama at the University of Manchester. Bullmore started working as an actor but turned to writing in 1995...
as Helen Preger, reporter - Benedict WongBenedict WongBenedict Wong is an English actor and comedian.Wong was born in Manchester and attended school in Salford. His first role was in a 1993 BBC Radio play called Kai Mei Sauce, written by Kevin Wong. He appeared alongside Sean Lock in the situation comedy 15 Storeys High, and as Dr. Franklin Fu in the...
as Pete Cheng, reporter - Sean GilderSean GilderSean Brian Gilder is an English stage, film and screen actor, he is also a playwright.Gilder was born in Brampton, Cumbria, England. He is best-known for his portrayal of Paddy Maguire on Shameless from 2005 to 2010, and as Styles on Hornblower...
as Sergeant 'Chewy' Cheweski - Deborah FindlayDeborah FindlayDeborah Findlay is an English actress.Her TV credits include Gillian in the ITV drama The Last Train , the recurring character Greer Thornton in 4 of the 6 episodes of State of Play, and in the episode The French Drop in Foyle's War. She also appeared in 4 episodes of the 2001 series of The...
as Greer Thornton, Stephen Collins' secretary - Rory McCannRory McCannRory McCann is a Scottish film and television actor.-Career:McCann's first acting work came in an advert for Scott's Porage Oats dressed in a vest and kilt. He was next seen in the 2002 television comedy-drama The Book Group playing a disabled personal trainer, for which he won a Scottish BAFTA...
(uncredited) as DI Stuart Brown
Plot
The serial begins with the murder of a young man, in what appears to be a drug-related killing, and the apparently coincidental death of Sonia Baker, the young researcher for MP Stephen Collins (Morrissey). As the deaths are investigated by journalist Cal McCaffrey of The Herald (Simm) and his colleagues (including Kelly MacdonaldKelly Macdonald
Kelly Macdonald is a Scottish actress, known for her role in the independent film Trainspotting and mainstream releases such as Nanny McPhee, Gosford Park, Intermission, No Country for Old Men and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2...
as Della Smith and Bill Nighy
Bill Nighy
William Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...
as editor Cameron Foster) it appears that not only were the deaths connected, but that a conspiracy links them with oil industry-backed corruption of high-ranking British government ministers. However, it later transpires that Collins may have known more than he was letting on.
Production
The serial was Paul Abbott's first attempt to write a political thriller, and he initially made the majority of the plot up as he went along. He was prompted to write the serial after BBC Head of DramaBBC television drama
BBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom...
Jane Tranter
Jane Tranter
Jane Tranter is an English television executive who has been the executive vice-president of programming and production at BBC Worldwide's Los Angeles base since January 2009...
asked whether he would rather write something "bigger" than he had usually written so far in his career. The serial was Abbott's third major writing project for the BBC, following Clocking Off
Clocking Off
Clocking Off is a British television drama series which ran on the BBC One network for four series from 2000 to 2003. It was produced for the BBC by the independent Red Production Company, and created by Paul Abbott...
(2000–2003) and Linda Green
Linda Green
Linda Green is a British television comedy-drama series that lasted for two series, screened in 2001 and 2002. The twenty half-hour episodes were broadcast on BBC One and produced for the BBC by the independent Red Production Company....
(2001–2002). State of Play was also a major turning point in David Yates' directorial career, as he began to direct various high-profile television projects.
Transmitted on BBC One on Sunday evenings at 9pm, State of Play consisted of six one-hour episodes and ran from 18 May to 22 June 2003. Episodes two to five were actually premiered on the digital television
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
station BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
at 10pm on the nights of the preceding episodes' BBC One showings – episode six was held back for a premiere on BBC One so as not to allow the final twists to be spoiled for those who did not have access to digital television. In 2004, the serial ran in the United States on the BBC's BBC America
BBC America
BBC America is an American television network, owned and operated by BBC Worldwide, and available on both cable and satellite.-History:The channel launched on March 29, 1998, broadcasting comedy, drama and lifestyle programs from BBC Television and other British television broadcasters like ITV and...
cable channel.
In 2005 the serial was released on DVD by BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995. In the year to 31 March 2010 it made a profit of £145m on a turnover of £1.074bn. The company had made a profit of £106m...
, in a two-disc set. Episode one features an audio commentary from Abbott and Yates, and episode six a commentary from Yates, producer Hilary Bevan-Jones and editor Mark Day
Mark Day (editor)
Mark Day is a BAFTA-winning British film editor. He won two BAFTA Awards for Best Editing for State of Play and Sex Traffic, both directed by David Yates with whom Day also worked with on The Way We Live Now, The Young Visiters and The Girl in the Café; the former two projects gained Day two Royal...
.
The success of the production led to Abbott being commissioned to write a sequel, which as of January 2006 was partly written– it was commissioned before the first had even been transmitted, so impressed were BBC executives with the original. However, by 2006 the second series appeared to have officially been abandoned. Abbott, talking to Mark Lawson
Mark Lawson
Mark Gerard Lawson is an English journalist, broadcaster and author.-Life and career:Born in Hendon, London, Lawson was raised in Yorkshire and is a Leeds United fan. He was educated at St Columba's College in St Albans and took a degree in English at University College London, where his lecturers...
on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's Front Row
Front Row (radio)
Front Row is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. The BBC describes the programme as a "live magazine programme on the world of arts, literature, film, media and music." It is broadcast each week day between 7.15 and 7.45 and has a of highlights available for download. Shows usually include...
in November 2006, said that he couldn't find a way to make the story work. However, on 25 April 2007, Abbott was quoted in the Sun newspaper as saying that he was currently writing scripts for a second, six-episode series of State of Play, with John Simm and Bill Nighy reprising their roles.
Critical reception
Reviewing the first episode for The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper the day after it had aired, Gareth McLean
Gareth McLean
Gareth McLean is a Scottish journalist who writes for The Guardian newspaper and on Soap operas for the Radio Times magazine.McLean graduated with an MA in English from the University of Aberdeen, working at The Scotsman newspaper as a Feature Writer from 1997 until he began writing as a TV Critic...
wrote that "...it's bloody magic. The story is gripping, the acting is ace and Paul Abbott's script is outstanding. His ear for dialogue, and for different voices, is exceptional. The exposition is swift, nifty and joyously unclunky. The characters are credible and rounded. If you can count the best dramas of recent years on the fingers of both hands, it's time to grow a new finger."
Other newspaper critics were similarly impressed with the opening installment. In The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, Paul Hoggart
Paul Hoggart
Paul Hoggart is an English television critic and columnist. He is the youngest son of Richard Hoggart and brother of political journalist Simon Hoggart. His sister, Nicola, is a teacher.-Early life and Career:...
wrote that "Two excellent performances [from Morrissey and Simm] ensure that the relationship has a turbulent dynamism that is credible and engaging." James Walton
James Walton
James Walton was an English cricketer who played for Kent during the 1875 season. He was born in Woolwich Dockyard, then in the county of Kent....
in The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
was more cautious, feeling that the opening episode had been promising but the serial as a whole still had the potential to go wrong. "At this stage however, the programme is certainly good enough to make me hope not and to ensure that I'll be back next week to find out."
The consensus appeared to be that the serial did maintain its quality to the end. Previewing episode four, Jonathan Wright
Jonathan Wright
Jonathan Wright is a British historian and author.His books include The Jesuits: Missions, Myths and Histories - published in the USA as God's Soldiers...
of The Guide section in The Guardian described it as "A political conspiracy thriller that's as buttock-clenchingly tense as Edge of Darkness
Edge of Darkness
Edge of Darkness is a British television drama serial, produced by BBC Television in association with Lionheart Television International and originally broadcast in six fifty-five minute episodes in late 1985...
, as cynical about the British political system as House of Cards
House of Cards
House of Cards is a 1990 political thriller television drama serial by the BBC in four parts, set after the end of Margaret Thatcher's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It was televised from 18 November to 9 December 1990, to critical and popular acclaim...
, and stands comparisons to both." The television critic of The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, Tom Sutcliffe
Tom Sutcliffe (broadcaster)
Thomas Sutcliffe is a British journalist and arts broadcaster.Sutcliffe studied English at Emmanuel College, Cambridge...
, wrote of the final episode: "I'm not sure that a thriller can end in anything other than anti- climax. If it has been good you're sad it's over, and if it ends badly you're quite likely to feel that you've been duped. Paul Abbott's State of Play, which has had me swallowing double doses on a Sunday evening whenever the schedules allowed, left us with the first kind of let-down rather than the second."
Bill Nighy won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for his role. The series also won BAFTAs for Best Sound (Fiction/Entertainment) and Best Editing (Fiction/Entertainment). It was nominated, but did not win, in the Best Actor category again, for Morrissey; in the Best Drama Serial category; Best Original Television Music and Best Photography and Lighting. It also won major awards from the Royal Television Society
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
, Banff Television Festival, Broadcasting Press Guild
Broadcasting Press Guild
The Broadcasting Press Guild is a British association of journalists who specialise in writing and broadcasting about television, radio and the media generally....
, Cologne Conference
Cologne Conference
The Cologne Conference is an international Film and Television Festival that takes place annually in Cologne, Germany. With about 5000 visitors, the Cologne Conference is considered as the best attended festival of its kind worldwide...
, Directors Guild of Great Britain, Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
s, and the Monte Carlo TV Festival.
Film adaptation
State of Play was adaptedFilm adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
into a feature film that was released in the United States in April 2009. The plot retained substantial similarities to the original six-hour series, retaining the main characters, but with its location changed to Washington, D.C., and with certain aspects condensed and changed in order to fit the two-hour format.
The adaptation is directed by Kevin Macdonald
Kevin MacDonald (director)
Kevin Macdonald is a Scottish director, best known for his films One Day in September, State of Play, The Last King of Scotland and Touching the Void.-Personal life:...
and is written by Matthew Michael Carnahan
Matthew Michael Carnahan
Matthew Michael Carnahan is an American screenwriter who wrote the feature films The Kingdom , Lions for Lambs and the film adaptation of both the hit BBC television drama serial State of Play and the novel White Jazz. Carnahan wrote the screenplay for Lions for Lambs for United Artists...
. Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
, Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
, Rachel McAdams
Rachel McAdams
Rachel Anne McAdams is a Canadian actress. After graduating from a theatre program at York University, Toronto in 2001, she worked steadily as an actress until finding fame in 2004 with starring roles in teen comedy Mean Girls and romantic drama The Notebook...
and Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
appear in the lead roles. In an April 2009 interview to promote the film, Affleck, who plays Congressman Stephen Collins, said he drew on the experiences of Gary Condit
Gary Condit
Gary Adrian Condit is a former American politician, a Democrat who served in the House of Representatives from 1989 to 2003...
, Eliot Spitzer
Eliot Spitzer
Eliot Laurence Spitzer is an American lawyer, former Democratic Party politician, and political commentator. He was the co-host of In the Arena, a talk-show and punditry forum broadcast on CNN until CNN cancelled his show in July of 2011...
, and John Edwards
John Edwards
Johnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...
while preparing for the role. The film was generally well received, but not as lauded as the series.
Television
Abbott, Paul. The South Bank ShowThe South Bank Show
The South Bank Show was a television arts magazine show, originally made by London Weekend Television , presented by Melvyn Bragg, broadcast on ITV and seen in over 60 countries worldwide — including Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States...
– Paul Abbott. ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. Sunday 15 May 2005.
External links
- State of Play at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
. - State of Play at bbc.co.ukBbc.co.ukBBC Online is the brand name and home for the BBC's UK online service. It is a large network of websites including such high profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site Cbeebies, and learning services such as Bitesize...
.