[Cherie]

It is believed that to date 850 British citizens have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join Isis. In the four-part drama The State (from Sunday, C4, 9pm), writer/director Peter Kosminsky sets out to humanise four fictional British Muslims who elect to become jihadis. He follows the young men and women from their comfortable homes in Britain, across Syrian army lines to Raqqa, and into the heart of the regime.

Kosminsky, who most recently directed the Bafta-winning Wolf Hall, is no stranger to conflict zones. He first made waves in 1987, with a from-all-sides documentary about the Falklands War, and has continued to provoke debate with dramas such as 2005’s The Government Inspector, about the suicide of biological weapons expert Dr David Kelly.

In The State, Kosminsky shows an unwillingness to use shock tactics to grab the audience by the throat from the start. He concentrates instead on developing his characters and showing how they respond to their new lives within the caliphate. They are soon divided along gender lines. A&E doctor Shakira (Ony Uhiara), who has brought her nine-year-old son with her, clashes with religious leaders when she announces her plan to work in a hospital, while teenager Ushna (Shavani Cameron) prepares to become a jihadi bride. Close friends Jalal (Sam Otto) and Ziyaad (Ryan McKen) train to become Isis fighters, with Jalal determined to live up to the reputation of his brother, who preceded him to the Middle East and died in battle.

Based on extensive research, the drama doesn’t spare us punishment beatings of women, public beheadings, or the murder of Shia Muslims, but its western liberal perspective is sometimes writ large. Jalal’s gentleness and Shakira’s determination to stand up for women’s rights seem at odds with the ideals of Isis, although perhaps that’s just what Kosminsky wants to show us about his characters.

As the episodes progress, the drama grows in depth and power. Asked recently whether it accords with the experiences of actual British Muslims who have left for Syria, Kosminsky said simply: “The reality is that most of these people are dead.”

★★★★☆


Just watched the first part...chilling stuff.