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My friend Don Fairservice, who has died aged 92, was a creative film editor and film-maker. Active in his youth as an actor and set designer with the Mountview Theatre Club in London, he became fascinated by the details of making films, their structures and meanings, and this led to a long career as a editor for the BBC and with numerous directors.

Don edited more than 40 films and TV series, and won a Bafta in 1989 for the Channel 4 series A Very British Coup. Other editing projects included Me and Mrs Jones (2002), The Railway Children (2000), The Scarlet Tunic (1998), Emma (1996), Beautiful Thing (1996), The Hanging Gale (1995) and Chattahoochee (1989).

Indian actor Konkona Sen Sharma has been cast as the lead female protagonist opposite Carlos Bardem (“El Cid”) in the comedy feature “Mis(s)chief,” it was revealed at the Film Bazaar in Goa.

The project hails from U.K. and India-based production outfit Avani Films and is currently in development. It has advanced to the second round at the 2025 Sundance Development Labs as a curated entry.

“Mis(s)chief” will follow a mother of two trying to succeed as a filmmaker while navigating a failing marriage, the odd bullet from a gangster she has unwittingly managed to annoy and the never-ending schedule of her children’s homework. British filmmaker Peter Webber (“Girl With a Pearl Earring”) is on board as executive producer and Emmy-nominated casting director Nancy Bishop is assembling an international cast.

“I am delighted by the comic premise, the representation of women and the writing itself,” Sen Sharma said.

Simon Brew Jan 27, 2017

Director Mick Jackson on Denial, Donald Trump, directing films, and how he followed The Bodyguard...

Mick Jackson has lived through several chapters of his directorial career. His background was television, in particular the stunning Threads, and his classy adaptation of Chris Mullins’ A Very British Coup. Then he went to Hollywood, directing the likes of L.A. Story, The Bodyguard and Volcano.

He’s been away from cinema for a while, courtesy of some intriguing television projects. But he returns to the big screen this weekend with Denial, a classy courtroom drama that brings the story of Holocaust denier David Irving’s infamous libel action to the cinema. We snagged a chat with him ahead of its release, with the promise of further conversation about his 90s output at a later date too.

Can you talk us through this particular film, and why you wanted to bring it to the big screen?...

From Meryl Streep's Iron Lady to Spitting Image and the Spice Girls, Observer writers and critics pick the films, books, art, music and TV that show Thatcher's lasting influence

Art, chosen by Laura Cumming

Treatment Room (1983)

In Richard Hamilton's installation, Thatcher administered her own harsh medicine from a video above the operating table with the viewer as helpless patient: a case of kill or cure.

Taking Stock (1984)

Hans Haacke portrayed Thatcher enthroned, nose in the air like a gun-dog, surrounded by images of Queen Victoria, the Saatchi brothers and, ominously, Pandora. Caused national furore.

In the Sleep of Reason (1982)

Mark Wallinger edited Thatcher's 1982 Falklands speech from blink to blink, fading to black in between, emphasising her solipsistic tendency to close her eyes when speaking as if nobody else existed.

The Battle of Orgreave (2001)

Jeremy Deller's restaged the worst conflict of the miners' strike from multiple viewpoints, uniting...

Political thriller Secret State was stripped of ideology and a plot, while Dara O Briain had a decent stab at making science sexy

Secret State C4|4oD

Dara O Briain's Science Club BBC2 | iPlayer

Richard Hammond's Miracles of Nature BBC1 | iPlayer

Imagine BBC1 | iPlayer

In an age when politics lacks any great thrills, it appears harder to make a great political thriller. The last one that comes readily to mind was Paul Abbott's State of Play, which was way back in 2003, during Tony Blair's eventful second term as prime minister. But since then the air has seeped out of the Westminster bubble and not even the prospect of global economic collapse has succeeded in reflating public interest or screenwriters' conspiratorial imagination. The Killing and Borgen suggest the Danes know how to breathe life into coalition politics but so far it's an art for which British TV...

Right from the apocalyptic opening sequence, we knew what waters this boat 'Secret State' was heading, straight into the seas of all those other elliptical political thrillers - 'State Of Play', 'House of Cards', 'Heart of Darkness', something of something else.

Deputy Prime Minister Tom Dawkins (Gabriel Byrne) is a man with a lot on his mind

As the Deputy Prime Minister, Gabriel Byrne was a man with a lot on his mind - capably portraying existential guilt ("you're thinking about Bosnia, you did the right thing"), the ambition ("what if I stand?") and fear of a deputy prime minister who can see that the disappearance of his boss carries with it opportunity, but also the burden of too many secrets. Hopes for a residence at Number 10 loom, but in the meantime, he had to clean up the mess of a...

When Secret State hits our screens, watch out for the vicar: he's played by novelist and former MP Chris Mullin, who wrote the book it's based on, A Very British Coup. Here is his diary from his time in front of the camera

Thursday, 16 February, 2012

To Manchester where I am to have a walk-on part in a new TV version of my first novel, A Very British Coup, about the overthrow of a radical, very left-wing prime minister. Not that this new series bears much resemblance to my book. Even the title has been changed – to Secret State – and the credits say "inspired by" rather than "based on".

Director Ed Fraiman has kindly agreed that I might have a walk-on part, a la Alfred Hitchcock. I thought he might reincarnate me as a backbench MP or even a minister; instead I am to be the vicar conducting a memorial service...

'You could reverse an oil tanker into the gulf between what Secret State thinks it is (important, good) and what it actually is (cobblers with exploding CGI bells on)'

"The country needs you, Tom," hisses reptilian chief whip John Hodder (Charles Dance), cufflinks oscillating with indignation. Doughty Deputy Prime Minister Tom Dawkins (Gabriel Byrne) is unconvinced. "I'm not a leader," he mumbles, peering gloomily out of his Downing Street window. "You give off stability," persists Hodder. "People are craving that. We need someone (voice rises, eyebrows scrunch)… With Balls."

It's a rum old business, this modern politics lark, so thank Christ Secret State (Wednesday, 10pm, Channel 4) is here to sort everything out. A four-part conspiracy thriller ("inspired", the credits thunder, "by the novel A Very British Coup by Chris Mullin"), it arrives amid considerable hoopla. Its lavish trailer depicts a downtrodden Byrne gliding glumly through a deserted SW...

Channel 4′s much anticipated adaptation of the novel A Very British Coup will air as part of the network’s summer line up. The drama is based around a horrific accident at an American owned petrochemical plant on Teesside. The Usual Suspects star Gabriel Byrne plays Tom Dawkins – a man who is reluctantly thrust into an Erin Bronkovitch style battle against corporate interests and political insiders. (Continued below)

Charles Dance

Channel 4 have assembled an unbelievable cast for the drama that includes Charles Dance (White Mischief) and Gina McKee (Our Friends in the North). USA based fans of British TV will also recognize Rupert Graves (Sherlock), Nicholas Farrell (Torchwood) and Stephen Dillane (Game of Thrones). The four-part drama is written by Robert Jones and directed by Ed Fraiman. Precise air dates have yet to be revealed. There are currently no plans to air Coup in the U.S.

N...

Charles Dance and Rupert Graves are among the stars who have joined the cast of Channel 4's new drama Coup. The four-part series, based on the novel A Very British Coup, focuses on the aftermath of an industrial accident in Teeside which raises questions about the Us petrochemical company involved. In Treatment star Gabriel Byrne has already joined the cast as a politician determined to maintain his integrity and uncover the truth. However, he struggles to keep his party on side, faces revelations about his personal life and starts to realise that the government has links (more)...

After three seasons on HBO’s In Treatment, Gabriel Byrne is returning to UK TV to star in a four-part drama series for Channel 4. With the working title Coup, the Company Pictures/Newscope Films conspiracy thriller starts production in February and will air later this year. Byrne will play politician Tom Dawkins, a reluctant hero thrust into the spotlight following an industrial disaster that raises questions about the safety procedures of the U.S. petrochemical company involved. Dawkins risks everything by taking on the establishment in his pursuit of the truth, uncovering a web of secrets along the way. The series is based on the novel A Very British Coup by Chris Mullin and was adapted for the screen by Robert Jones. Ed Fraiman is directing with Johann Knobel (Shameless) producing. Executive producers are Jason Newmark, Fraiman, George Faber and Charles Pattinson.

Gabriel Byrne is to take the lead role in forthcoming Channel 4 drama Coup. The conspiracy thriller - based on former Labour MP Chris Mullin's novel A Very British Coup - will see Byrne play reluctant hero Tom Dawkins. Following a suspicious industrial accident in Teeside, politician Dawkins will rail against the establishment to uncover the truth and get justice for the families affected by the disaster. Struggling to keep his party onside and the electorate behind him, he gradually unravels a sinister government conspiracy. Byrne is best known for his film credits, including roles in 1990's Miller's Crossing, 1995's (more)...

Channel 4 has announced a number of new series commissions for 2011. Science series Drugs Live will explore the effects of illegal drugs and alcohol on the human body. Under strict clinical conditions, the four-part show will explore both the short and long-term consequences of experimentation with addictive substances, and see people take Class A drugs live on television. A second science-based series, The Food Hospital, will explore the feasibility of prescribing special diets to battle health problems. Viewers will be encouraged to participate in the scientific study to determine which foods can help to improve or even cure certain illnesses. Lennon Naked writer Robert Jones will also adapt 1982 novel A Very British Coup for the channel, under the abbreviated title of Coup. Helmed by Merlin's Ed Fraiman and produced by The Shadow Line's (more)...

Channel 4 has announced a number of new series commissions for 2011. Science series Drugs Live will explore the effects of illegal drugs and alcohol on the human body. Under strict clinical conditions, the four-part show will explore both the short and long-term consequences of experimentation with addictive substances. A second science-based series, The Food Hospital, will explore the feasibility of prescribing special diets to battle health problems. Viewers will be encouraged to participate in the scientific study to determine which foods can help to improve or even cure certain illnesses. Lennon Naked writer Robert Jones will also adapt 1982 novel A Very British Coup for the channel, under the abbreviated title of Coup. Helmed by Merlin's Ed Fraiman and produced by The Shadow Line's Johann Knobel, the four-part thriller will (more)...

Playwright and author of TV dramas including The Beiderbecke Affair and Fortunes of War

Alan Plater, whose TV credits in a writing career spanning 50 years included The Beiderbecke Affair, Fortunes of War and the screenplay for A Very British Coup, has died, his agent confirmed to the BBC today.

Plater, 75, wrote novels and for film and theatre, but will be best remembered for a profilic body of television drama spanning six decades, starting with TV play The Referees for BBC North in 1961.

His final TV drama, Joe Maddison's War, starring Kevin Whately and Robson Green and set on the eve of the second world war in the north-east, where Plater was born, is currently in post-production for ITV.

Plater was born in Jarrow in 1935 and moved with his family as a young child to Hull, where he grew up.

He studied architecture at Newcastle University and worked for a short...

Alan Plater's agent Alexandra Cann and Chris Mullin, author of A Very British Coup, remember the TV writer

Alexandra Cann, Alan Plater's agent

"How do you sum up Alan's career? With great difficulty. He was an astoundingly wonderful television writer and his contribution to British television was of a very high standard. He wrote many wonderful original things as well as adaptations.

"His swansong will be an original work — Joe Maddison's War — for ITV. When he died, he was writing an essay on Hull. "He was writing to the end, but his last TV writing was an episode of Lewis and Joe Maddison's War. His body was very frail but his mind was extremely robust. He really wanted to engage right through to the end.

"I was his agent for 20 years and had known him a little longer. He was just the most utterly delightful person, thoroughly enjoyable and amusing.