The State Within: Episode One (series premiere)

(S01E01) When BBC America and the BBC in the UK team up on a project, they rarely do things by halves, but I'm not certain The State Within will be the type of show that American viewers will be drawn to.

For a start, it pretty much opens with a trans-Atlantic flight being brought down by a terrorist bomb over Washington, with the finger of blame quickly pointing at a British muslim.

The British Ambassador to the USA, Sir Mark Brydon (Jason Issacs), quickly finds himself embroiled in a complex political conspiracy, at the heart of which is a plot to destabilize western government.

Chuck in a fiery Sharon Gless (yes, Detective Christine Cagney from Cagney & Lacey) as the US Secretary of Defense, along with a dozen other plot distractions, and you've potentially got a pot-polling political thriller on your hands.

Unfortunately, one hour is seldom enough time to get across a message normally conveyed in a three-hour movie along the lines of Syriana, and six episodes could end up detracting from the central plot too much by fragmenting the overpowering storyline in too many directions.

However, this first 60 minutes was compelling enough, despite opening with a scene of total devastation on the Washington freeway when the show's catalyst event sparked things off, which was then compounded with the mysterious death of a soldier during a late-night training exercise.

Add in Mark Brydon's External Affairs Counselor conducting some Deep Throat-like shenanigans with arms dealers (whilst also having an affair with Christopher Styles, the under Secretary of Defense) and a Falklands War hero on death row -- and you'll start to get the idea that we're embarking on something very complex, intricate and almost certainly requiring 100% viewer attention for the duration.

It really is difficult to know where to begin when trying to explain exactly what's going on with this show, but with another few episodes, I might be able to shed some light on the overall end game, if there is one.

Rest assured, conspiracy is very much the name of the game, with Brydon's political enemy appearing to build evidence to oust him from his position in Washington and a dictator in Tyrgyztan pulling strings from overseas.

It strikes me as a very reactionary piece, repeatedly citing references to the London transport attacks in 2005 (not 1995! - thanks Scott), the war in Afghanistan and America's increasingly worrisome policies on immigration and patriotism.

But this is really just the start, and despite the high production values and some strong acting from Jason Issacs in the lead role, I get the feeling I'm probably going to be as confused and compelled in equal measure when I sit down to write about episode two.

If you can shed any light on what's going on, be my guest and add your comments below.