The Undeclared War may feel like a copybook cyber-terrorism thriller with lashings of international intrigue thrown in, and in the main that is exactly what audiences get. A sold ensemble cast fronted by Simon Pegg returns for a Season 2 to find the UK once more under threat. Hannah Khalique-Brown also makes a reappearance, even if this time round she takes more of a backseat.
This show thrives on unpredictability and characters being pulled from pillar to post battling unseen threats and juggling commitments. With director Paul McGuigan at the helm Season 2 expands on that initial cyber-threat from Season 1 and introduces new players that continue to muddy the waters of international relations.
Yet again, Simon Pegg provides the firm moral anchor as Danny McBride, negotiating this maze of bureaucracy and staving off diplomatic disaster. His wife Barbara, played by Sian Brooke gets more to do this time round, and the thin line between their personal and professional personas becomes more opaque. In a world so reliant on technology to do the simplest things, The Undeclared War is a dramatic reminder of exactly how close governments have come to a tipping point when it comes to this tech.
Image Courtesy of Channel 4
There has been talk beyond the confines of small screen melodramas that suggests Eastern bloc countries are bringing war closer to Western doorsteps. That measures must be put in place to deter these advances and theoretically keep people safe from invasion. This is the delicate line The Undeclared War walks throughout second season, floating these fictious threats and ramping up tensions as events continue to escalate.
What that amounts to from an audience perspective is a show which may bring in new players on both sides but fails to serve up anything fresh for them to do. Half the attraction of The Undeclared War first time round was watching Benji Dunn in all but name outside of those Mission movies, tackling cyber threats away from the shadow of Ethan Hunt. Simon Pegg might have become a British acting institution, but even he struggles to keep things dynamic.
With the absence of Mark Rylance self-evident, it falls to Pegg to pick up the slack, even if opportunities to step away from GCHQ and bring in a little humanity are scarce. There are characters both old and new who still carry conflicting agendas and attempt to make up those emotive elements alongside him, but overall Season 2 suffers anyway.
Four years on and the world has changed. Traditional villains are a thing of the past and adaptations of William Gibson’s Necromancer are waiting in the wings courtesy of Apple TV. There is fresh blood waiting in the wings and what The Undeclared War delivers is a tried and tested formula without challenging audience expectations. Not a contentious revelation intended to antagonise, but merely a fact which is indisputable despite sounding like a backhanded compliment.
The Undeclared War is available to stream on All 4 now.