Drama at its very best on the BBC.

Over the last three weeks on BBC Two we have been able to enjoy serious drama of the highest quality. The writing and directing by Sir David Hare was superb it made - 'date viewing'. I don't recall better stuff on the box for years. The cast was needless-to-say of equal stature with Ralph Fiennes as Alex Beasley the prime minister, Bill Nighy as the secret agent and Helena Bonham Carter as his muse. The underlying theme is the war on terror was spelled out by the prime minister, who said to our rogue agent Jonny Worricker "we faced an overwhelming threat, there is a tension between, ends and means". The question for Worricker was - did he give into the seductive ploy, or would he be true to his own lights? The denouncement was equal to the tension that had us guessing for four and a half hours - "would he be silent about lawlessness"? Do watch and find out for yourself.