The State | |
---|---|
Genre | Drama |
Written by | Peter Kosminsky |
Directed by | Peter Kosminsky |
Starring |
|
Composer | Debbie Wiseman |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 4 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers | Andrew Boswell Liza Marshall Kris Thykier |
Producer | Steve Clark-Hall |
Cinematography | Gavin Finney |
Editor | David Blackmore |
Running time | 48 mins [1] |
Production company | Archery Pictures |
Original release | |
Network | Channel 4 |
Release | 20 August – 23 August 2017 |
The State is a four-part British television drama serial, written and directed by Peter Kosminsky, that dramatises the experiences of four young British Muslims who fly to Syria to join Islamic State. The series was originally broadcast in the UK by Channel 4, with all four parts airing on successive nights between 20 and 23 August 2017. The series was green-lit in July 2016, following extensive research by Kosminsky. [2] [3]
Ony Uhiara, Sam Otto, Shavani Cameron and Ryan McKen were later cast as the four principal characters, Shakira, Jalal, Ushna and Ziyad. [4] Most of the series's location filming was undertaken in Spain later that autumn. [5] The series was broadcast worldwide by National Geographic, airing in Australia from 23 August, [6] and premiering in the United States as a two-night special event on 18 and 19 September, [7] [8] In France, the series was broadcast by Canal+ from 4 September. [9] [10] [11] The series was released on DVD in the United States on 28 November 2017. [12]
The first episode was watched live by 1.4 million viewers, which was described by Broadcast magazine as a "solid start". [13] However, Channel 4 is unlikely to make money from the series; according to outgoing chief creative officer Jay Hunt, the channel needs to cross-subsidise such dramas with more populist programmes such as Great British Bake Off . [14] The figure increased to 2.33 million taking into account catch-up viewing over the next seven days, and 2.49 million after a month. [15]
The series was widely praised by viewers and critics. [16] [17] The Guardian wrote that "this Isis drama is ... gripping and genuinely enlightening", [18] and The Telegraph noted that "viewers on Twitter praised its stars and creators for 'capturing how barbaric and evil ISIS are'." [19] Before the drama aired, Richard Kemp, a former advisor to the UK government on counter-terrorism, warned that it would be a "recruiting sergeant" for ISIS, a view prominently reported by several tabloid newspapers. [20] However, the idea that the drama made ISIS glamorous or attractive was rejected by most reviewers. [21] [22] [23] [24]
Most reviewers found the drama powerful, immersive, and compelling, with both its direction and acting widely praised. However, many questioned the portrayal of the protagonists' apparent initial ignorance and naivety, and of their subsequent antipathy to brutality and hatred, and doubted that either were representative of real jihadis. [25] Although a few references were made to IS's online engagement and misinformation, the decision not to present detailed back-stories for the characters led some critics to suggest that the series failed to explore why people might become radicalised, and that such apparently reasonable people would never have gone to Syria to support it. [25] [26] On the other hand, as former Conservative minister Baroness Warsi commented, "There are many proud parents who cannot understand why their children find an affiliation with Isil... So often we have lazily defined those attracted to violent ideologies promulgated in far-off countries as mad, bad misfits and yet the reality is far more complicated." [27]
Episode | Title | Directed by | Written by | Viewers (millions) | Original airdate | |
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1 | "Episode 1" | Peter Kosminsky | Peter Kosminsky | 2.11 | 20 August 2017 | |
Four young British muslims make the journey to Syria to join Islamic State. Best friends Jalal (Sam Otto) and Ziyad (Ryan McKen) are placed into an extensive four-week training campaign under the guidance of commander Abu Omar (Ali Suliman). Former doctor Shakira (Ony Uhiara) tries to persuade house leader Umm Walid (Jessica Gunning) to allow to her work in the local state hospital. Meanwhile, teenager Ushna (Shavani Cameron) struggles to cope with the stress of the transition, and looks to Shakira for support. | ||||||
2 | "Episode 2" | Peter Kosminsky | Peter Kosminsky | 1.78 | 21 August 2017 | |
Shakira is forced to take action when the hospital becomes the target of a bomb attack. Jalal tries to find out more about his brother and befriends Sayed (Amir El-Masry), a pharmacist with British connections. Ushna struggles with the reality that she will soon have to marry. | ||||||
3 | "Episode 3" | Peter Kosminsky | Peter Kosminsky | 1.68 | 22 August 2017 | |
Shakira is angered to discover that Isaac wishes to undertake unit training. Ushna is devastated after receiving a visit informing her that her husband has died a martyr. Jalal tries to dissuade Ziyad from driving a truck full of explosives into an enemy base. | ||||||
4 | "Episode 4" | Peter Kosminsky | Peter Kosminsky | 1.57 | 23 August 2017 | |
Shakira decides to leave Syria and return home to the UK after receiving news of her husband's death, but struggles to convince Isaac of her plans. Stricken with grief following Ziyad's death, Jalal tries to help Ibtisam and her daughter cross the border to safety. Ushna discovers that she is pregnant. |
Ony Uhiara, is an actress, best known for playing Adele in the BBC sitcom, The Crouches, which was broadcast from 2003 until 2004.
Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri, commonly known by his nom de guerreAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was an Iraqi militant and leader of the Islamic State (IS) who served as its first caliph from 2014 until his death in 2019.
Hajin is a small city in eastern Syria, administratively part of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate, located along the Euphrates River, south of Deir ez-Zor. Nearby localities include al-Abbas to the west, al-Ramadi to the south and Gharanij to the north. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Hajin had a population of 37,935 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center of a nahiyah ("subdistrict") of the Abu Kamal District. The Hajin subdistrict consists of four towns which had a collective population of 97,970 in 2004. The al-Shaitat tribe is the largest tribe in the area. The town was captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces on 14 December 2018 in the Battle of Hajin, after a week and a half of heavy clashes and intense airstrikes by the United States-led Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve international coalition, and has since been part of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.
Many states began to intervene against the Islamic State, in both the Syrian civil war and the War in Iraq (2013–2017), in response to its rapid territorial gains from its 2014 Northern Iraq offensives, universally condemned executions, human rights abuses and the fear of further spillovers of the Syrian civil war. These efforts are called the war against the Islamic State (ISIS) or the international military intervention against the Islamic State (ISIS). In later years, there were also minor interventions by some states against IS-affiliated groups in Nigeria and Libya. All these efforts significantly degraded the Islamic State's capabilities by around 2019–2020. While moderate fighting continues in Syria, as of
2025, ISIS has been contained to a manageably small area and force capability.The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the United Kingdom. British citizens have fought as members of the group, and there has been political debate on how to punish them. On 26 September 2014, Parliament voted to begin Royal Air Force airstrikes against ISIL in northern Iraq at the request of the Iraqi government, which began four days later, using Tornado GR4 jets. On 2 December 2015, the UK Parliament authorised an extension to the Royal Air Force airstrike campaign, joining the US-led international coalition against ISIL in Syria. Hours after the vote, Royal Air Force Tornado jets began bombing ISIL-controlled oilfields.
On 22 September 2014, the United States officially intervened in the Syrian civil war with the stated aim of fighting the Islamic State (ISIL/ISIS) terrorist organization in support of the international war against it, code named Operation Inherent Resolve. The US currently continues to support the Syrian Free Army opposition faction and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces opposed to both the Islamic State and former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
Operation Shader is the operational code name given to the contribution of the United Kingdom in the ongoing military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The operation involves the British Army providing ground support and training to allied forces fighting against ISIL, the Royal Air Force providing humanitarian aid airdrops, reconnaissance and airstrikes, and the Royal Navy providing reconnaissance and airstrikes from the UK Carrier Strike group and escort to allied carrier battle groups.
Alan Henning was an English taxicab driver-turned-volunteer humanitarian aid worker. He became the fourth Western hostage killed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) with his killing publicised in a beheading video.
Adnan Latif Hamid al-Suwaydawi al-Dulaymi, also known by his noms de guerre Abu Muhannad al-Suwaydawi, Abu Abdul Salem, and Haji Dawūd was a top commander in the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the former head of its Military Council.
Executions by ISIS refers here to killing by beheading, immolation, shooting, or other means of soldiers and civilians by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). ISIL has released a number of propaganda/publicity videos of beheadings or shootings of captives. Houtat Sulūk is reported to be a mass grave.
In early 2014, the jihadist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant captured extensive territory in Western Iraq in the Anbar campaign, while counter-offensives against it were mounted in Syria. Raqqa in Syria became its headquarters. The Wall Street Journal estimated that eight million people lived under its control in the two countries.
This article contains a timeline of events from January 2015 to December 2015 related to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/ISIS). This article contains information about events committed by or on behalf of the Islamic State, as well as events performed by groups who oppose them.
Collaboration with the Islamic State refers to the cooperation and assistance given by governments, non-state actors, and private individuals to the Islamic State (IS) during the Syrian Civil War, Iraqi Civil War, and Libyan Civil War.
The Qalamoun offensive (2017) was a military operation launched by Hezbollah, the Syrian Armed Forces, and later the Lebanese Armed Forces, against members of Tahrir al-Sham and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on the Lebanon–Syria border. The Lebanese Army denied any coordination with Hezbollah or the Syrian Army.
Sam Otto is a British actor who gained popularity in 2017 after playing "Jalal" in Peter Kosminsky's Channel four Series The State. He is also known for starring in Collateral, The Flood, The Boy with the Topknot and Snowpiercer.
The Eastern Syria campaign of September–December 2017 was a large-scale military operation of the Syrian Army (SAA) and its allies against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during the Syrian Civil War. Its goal was to clear the city of Deir ez-Zor of any remaining ISIL forces, capture ISIL's de facto capital of Mayadin, as well as seize the border town of Abu Kamal, which became one of ISIL's final urban strongholds by the latter stages of the campaign.
Ali Aswad al-Jiburi, better known by his nom de guerre as Abu Ayman al-Iraqi, was an ISIL commander and Shura council member killed on 18 May 2016 by an airstrike in northern Iraq.
The origins of the Islamic State group can be traced back to three main organizations. Earliest of these was the "Jamāʻat al-Tawḥīd wa-al-Jihād" organization, founded by the Jihadist leader Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi in Jordan in 1999. Although the other two predecessor organizations emerged during the Iraqi insurgency against the U.S. occupation forces which included the "Jaish al-Ta'ifa al-Mansurah" group founded by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi in 2004 and the "Jaysh Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jama’ah" group founded by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his associates in the same year, the modern iteration of the Islamic State was formed after the U.S. occupational forces outlawed the Iraqi branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party putting the Sunni soldiers and bureaucrats out of work.
Abdul Nasser Qardash is an Iraqi militant who in 2019 was wrongly reported as the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). He was also nicknamed "The Professor" and "Destroyer". Qardash was a high-ranking and very influential member of ISIL with close connections to its first caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and tipped as a potential candidate for ISIL leadership succession. However days after the death of al-Baghdadi, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi was ultimately chosen as the new declared leader of ISIL. Qardash was captured by Iraqi security forces in 2020.
The U.S. intervention in the Syrian civil war is the United States-led support of Syrian opposition and Rojava during the course of the Syrian civil war and active military involvement led by the United States and its allies — the militaries of the United Kingdom, France, Jordan, Turkey, Canada, Australia and more — against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and al-Nusra Front since 2014. Since early 2017, the U.S. and other Coalition partners have also targeted the Syrian government and its allies via airstrikes and aircraft shoot-downs.