State of Play

The series was Abbott's first attempt to write a political thriller, and he initially made the majority of the plot up as he went along. He was prompted to write the series after BBC Head of Drama Jane Tranter asked him whether he would consider writing a piece "bigger" than anything he had written so far in his career.[1] The serial was Abbott's third major writing project for the channel, following Clocking Off and Linda Green. The series was also a major turning point in David Yates's directorial career, as he began to direct various high-profile television projects following his work on the series.

The six-part series was a primetime broadcast on BBC One on Sunday evenings at 9:00 pm from 18 May to 22 June 2003. Episodes two to five were initially premiered on the digital television channel BBC Four at 10:00 pm on the nights of the preceding episodes' BBC One broadcast. However, episode six was held back for a premiere on BBC One, so as not to allow the final twists to be spoiled for those who did not have access to digital television. In 2004, the series ran in the United States on the BBC America cable channel. In 2005, the series was released on DVD by BBC Worldwide, in a two-disc set. Episode one features an audio commentary from Abbott and Yates, and episode six a commentary from Yates, producer Hilary Bevan-Jones, and editor Mark Day.

The success of the series and its favourable impression on BBC executives led to Abbott being commissioned to write a sequel, before the first series had even been aired. In 2006, however, a second series appeared to have been abandoned, with Abbott telling Mark Lawson on Front Row for BBC Radio 4 in November that he "couldn't find a way to make the story work".