POLITICAL THRILLERS
Monday 9 May 2005 10.55pm-11.25pm
Time Shift uncovers the secrets of the TV political thriller. Writer of the hit series State of Play, Paul Abbott, tells us why he was attracted to the genre. Other contributors include writers Michael Dobbs and Troy Kennedy Martin, Mark Lawson, Chris Mullin MP, and TV experts Chris Dunkley and Jack Kibble-White.
PAUL ABBOTT CLIPS Exclusive interview with the writer of State of Play
Edge of Darkness Trivia and video clips from the nuclear-anxiety thriller on the BBC I Love TV site
John Le Carré Transcript on the Guardian website of an interview at the National Film Theatre
Michael Dobbs Details and interviews on the Harper Collins website
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Tom Ware Time Shift Series Editor
The success of Paul Abbott's State of Play this summer has put TV political thrillers back in the public eye. It's a drama genre with a distinguished pedigree which has at times itself been the subject of political intrigue. Val Gielgud's 1950 play Party Manners - whose plot about a Labour MP involved in an energy scandal almost exactly pre-figures State of Play - was banned by the BBC after it upset the Attlee Labour government. It's among the many great stories revealed by John Das' Time Shift.
