This was just powerful.

Great script and great actors!

I hope to see more from Hannah Kalique-Brown.

The show proves that diversity doesn't have to mean crappy storylines.

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P.S.: Yes, the "IT-Stuff" itself was a bit unrealistic at times, but thats ok.

Do not watch this series if you cannot handle an open ending. There is no season 2 and the story is nowhere near a wrap-up.

The series season 1 is interesting and quite different from other computer-nerd centric series. I might even go as far as calling it realistic. Simon Pegg is in the most serious role I've ever seen him in, which is also refreshing.
The main accress is not just another woke face, she actually is a proper actress for a change. Also quite good. The story is a bit too slow as it focusses a bit too much on her family relations. Not very realistic is how the intern gets to go do field work, but ok, let's forget that mishap from the writers (suddenly you wonder if you're watching a series for 14 y/o's on Nickelodeon or something). Other then that it's an interesting look at how the Ruzzian trolls are doing their internet spam, manipulation and propaganda.
It's really disappointing that this small gem did not get a season 2.

Excellent suspenseful cyber crisis story. What sets this show apart is the use of analogous dramatized recreations of hacking and coding. When the show would normally be watching people typing or even examining code, we see the person at the keyboard in a fantasy world (that looks like the real world) wearing a toolbelt. They then perform physical actions in that fantasy world corresponding to the tasks they are performing in the real world with keystrokes. I know mine isn't a perfect verbal description, but it makes cyberwarfare much more accessible to non-technical viewers.
The acting performances are excellent, even Maisie Richardson-Sellers's performance as an NSA employee [spoiler]whose lust overcomes her reason, bogging down the storyline tremendously as Saara Parvan is distracted from vital work by a destructive seduction[/spoiler].

[SkyShowtime] A cyber espionage story that raises some interesting reflections on a society manipulated to doubt everything through the generation of fake news, but that ends up being particularly bland and boring, especially for a main character whose plot-side conflicts, regardless of the espionage plot, are soporific. The irrelevant presences of Simon Pegg and Mark Rylance add to the sense of frustration over what could have developed with more momentum, but ends up getting wrapped up in an implausible and lackluster tale of Western-Russian cyberattacks.

Well done show when focusing on the cyber aspect but misses a bit on the family stuff. The ending also missed the mark a bit as you wonder why Saara leaves work after finding out key intel and doesn't pass it on to anybody. Great job by Pegg in this role too. Intense soundtrack!

One of the best shows in years. I love British shows - so real and tense. I could have watched many more seasons and the ending was extremely rushed. Why???

I love the way they've dealt with the hacking/IT. Like a real life computer game rather than just constant shots of people tippety tappity typing...

Also, is Simon Pegg wearing a hairpiece??

As someone working in the IT field and involved in Cybersecurity this is.... funny? No, sad actually. They get some stuff right, but so much stuff wrong. The idea that you could just communicate randomly without any problem from secure facilities like the FSBs or GCHQs and it would not trigger alerts is almost comical.

The writing itself was also pretty "on the nose".

I guess that's how people in the medical field feel when they watch "realistic" medical drama.

Great show.. make sure you pay attention during episode 3 - it's pivotal to the story... Unfortunately it's almost entirely in Russian with subtitles (WHY do they insist on doing that?!!)

Don't know why they had a Muslim women in the story when she broke all their laws/rules... doesn't make sense... just make her brown if it's important she isn't white.

Definitely worth watching.
9.5/10

Great series. Only criticism is that too much time spent on Saara's personal relationships which really slowed the pace. All totally believable, and can't wait for S2.

JAPM (Just Another Propaganda Movie)

If you value your intelligence, and don't like brainwashing then avoid this rot like the fire. Not only is it government propaganda, it's done with the most primitive methods.
- The FSB is the former KGB (irrelevant to the plot and the activities of this service today)
- in Britain it is always a sunny day, in Russia it is always night or rainy
- in Britain in the service serve patriots sacrificing their own families for the service, in Russia serve people out of fear
- Russia plans to attack "the West" militarily
- etc.

Thought provoking, entertaining and unsettlingly plausible. Sharp contemporary political drama is thin in the ground by the domain of cyber warfare allows more narrative freedom clear of tiresome eight/left cul se sacs. Enjoy.

Thought provoking, entertaining and unsettlingly plausible. Sharp contemporary political drama is thin in the ground by the domain of cyber warfare allows more narrative freedom clear of tiresome eight/left cul se sacs. Enjoy.