State of Play is a BBC political thriller drama in six episodes that follows journalist Cal McCaffrey (John Simm) as he investigates the death of the research assistant, and lover, to MP Stephen Collins (David Morrissey), who's coincidentally an old friend of McCaffrey.

But everything turns out much more complex than it looked at first, when the murder of a young drug dealer seems to be connected to the case. As the plot thickens, numerous lies will be uncovered and friendships will be put to test.

 Paul Abbott also wrote the Cracker and Clocking Off episodes in which John Simm starred.

 State of Play managed to collect 14 awards in total, three of which were BAFTAs. It had nine other nominations.

 A sequel has been rumoured ever since the first series aired, and although John Simm has always expressed interest in being in it when the topic arises in interviews, he's always said he hasn't heard any official confirmation of it. Paul Abbott has been reported to be writing it several times, even.

BBC | Press Release: State of Play | 16 April 2003

State of Play was released on R2 DVD in April 2005 and later in R1 in February 2008. The UK edition features audio commentaries for episode 1 (with Paul Abbott and David Yates) and episode 6 (with Hiliary Bevan Jones, Mark Day and David Yates).