The Capture

Writer Ben Chanan has tried to raise the bar from the excellent first series, but in doing so he's stretched credibility to breaking point.

I’m as paranoid as the next 21st century apocalyptic, but even I draw the line at invisible assassins. But in doing so he’s stretched credibility to breaking point. Exactly how this is done is left a little blurry but go with that flow if you can because The Capture does paint a convincing picture of how compromised any notion of the truth has become when it comes to talking politics.

Paapa Essiedu plays Isaac Turner MP · Indira Varma plays Khadija Khan · Ron Perlman plays CIA Chief Frank Napier · Ginny Holder plays DI Nadia Latif · Ben Miles ...

Entrenched in the UK’s own ‘Correction’ unit, DCI Rachel Carey (Grainger) finds herself in the middle of a new conspiracy - with a new target. The Capture returns to BBC One at 9pm on Sunday, August 28. Their bond will be further explored in the second series. Returning to the lead role of DCI Rachel Carey is Holliday Grainger. The official BBC synopsis explains that “Britain is under siege: hacked news feeds, manipulated media, and interference in politics. Also returning for series 2 is Ben Miles, who plays Commander Danny Hart. Comic book aficionados will recognise Perlman as Hellboy in the two original films from Guillermo del Toro. Ben (Chanan) has written one of the freshest and most prescient scripts of recent times and I can’t wait to see what this incredible cast and crew can do with it.” The Capture explores the mad-capped world of digital intelligence and surveillance. On joining the new series, Essiedu said: “I’m so excited to be coming on board with The Capture. Reprising his role as villain, CIA Chief Frank Napier, is Ron Perlman. This led to a follow-up series being commissioned and three years later, it is finally here.

Conspiracy theories and Chinese spies abound as Holliday Grainger and Paapa Essiedu star in the return of the slightly silly TV thriller.

Even more risible is our other hero, security minister Isaac Turner (Paapa Essiedu), who has the aura of a more elegant, less consummately sociopathic In series two, DI Carey has been promoted to S015, the very security unit suspected of being behind the frame-up. DI Carey found that the footage showing Emery killing the lawyer had been digitally faked as part of a conspiracy going right to the heart of the state, and perhaps Even Further. And yet, by the end of series one, DI Carey could not stop Emery getting sentenced for six years, leaving her colleagues suspicious that she was part of the conspiracy to frame Emery for Reasons Unclear. Plot wise, this scene establishes Grainger’s rogue detective as can-do, maverick and deadly as Dirty Harry with the hair-trigger temper of a young Eric Cantona high-fiving a Crystal Palace fan with all the toes of one foot. Here, we are to believe that a Chinese tech company in cahoots with Beijing’s autocratic faux-communist politburo is pitching the British government to install facial recognition software at our airports to improve security.