The Undeclared War

[An invisible cyberwar with Russia is] a terrifying prospect, and one that he [creator Peter Kosminsky] has brought pretty effectively to the screen without succumbing to the temptation to make the main characters swashbuckling or glamorous.

Broad in scope and rarely letting go of its in-built tension, The Undeclared War feels like a fresh take on political drama.

This series exceeds expectations, guiding viewers by the hand through the complex world of cybersecurity - and then refusing to relinquish its grip until the final episode.

The Undeclared War sports good lead performances, some creative storytelling and a plot that steadily builds tension. And we don’t have to look at that much code, which is a plus.

Timely if sluggish and ultimately unfocused, The Undeclared War amounts to a dramatized stress-test of GCHQ in the face of triple-tier malware, CC TV hacking, and deep-fake media.

More of an intellectual thriller that tries to get pulses racing by watching code upload. [29 Aug - 11 Sep 2022, p.7]

It’s interesting stuff. But first you need to swallow the ludicrous idea that the only person capable of staving off World War Three has been in the job for two hours.

This is a surprisingly weak entry in Kosminsky’s career in docudramas and dramas of all kinds. The story engine powering “The Undeclared War” needed a tuneup long before the actors got to the set.

When The Undeclared War ratchets up the tension of that possibility, it’s relatively gripping. It’s too bad, then, that the rest of it is content to shuffle along at a snail’s pace, taking us down detours and refusing to engage more deeply with its political concerns.

[The Undeclared War] is well-intentioned, well-researched, and, well, boring. ... This densely detailed show eventually gets someplace chilling in its final episodes as it centers not just cyber warfare but the way that technology and social media can shape political perception. But the first half of this six-chapter series has a tendency to drag.

It moves at a glacial pace and the GCHQ staff have the air of reluctant office workers on data entry shifts, boredly tapping at their keyboards until it’s time for a statutory tea break – rather than people frantically trying to hold off an enemy assault that could kill thousands and hurl the nation back to the middle ages, or at least the 1990s.

The central mysteries of The Undeclared War – who’s behind the cyberattack, and what are their intentions – may be enough to carry you through. The series is at its best when it’s ratcheting up the tension. Just don’t expect it to convince when it comes to anything deeper.

The Undeclared War’s attempts to ground its political intrigue with the minutiae and everyday details of international communication analysts is ultimately very, very dull.