The Capture: Life is but a dream

Putin — as everyone knew — was mistrustful. Especially about food and drink, the easiest way to poison someone, as the KGB well understood," the Guardian's Russia correspondent Luke Harding wrote in Shadow State. 

"How did Prigozhin gain Putin's confidence?" 

As he won contracts to cater lavish events for the Kremlin, Prigozhin, who always made a point of personally serving the Russian leader, earned the nickname of "Putin's chef". 

Yevgeny Prigozhin, known as Vladimir Putin's chef, revealed as Wagner Group mercenary boss

 The Capture is a British mystery thriller series created, written and directed by Ben Chanan, and starring Holliday Grainger, Callum Turner, Laura Haddock, Ben Miles, Cavan Clerkin, Paul Ritter, and Ron Perlman.

In series one, after being acquitted of a war crime in Afghanistan, former British army Lance Corporal Shaun Emery finds himself accused of kidnapping and murdering his barrister Hannah Roberts, backed by CCTVevidence. Whilst Emery works to clear his name, fast-tracked Detective Inspector Rachel Carey of Homicide and Serious Crime Command begins to uncover a complex conspiracy surrounding Emery, calling into question the validity of the footage.

In series two, rising politician Isaac Turner finds himself caught up in a similar conspiracy after a deepfake of him causes yet another race against time for Rachel to expose the truth before it is too late.

Isaac is in a cab heading to the interview as Carey enters the operations room to sabotage the interview via correction but Isaac leaves after seeing Khan enter the room. A Television is then wheeled into the room as a deep faked version of Turner is put onto the monitor, The interview starts as a script runs as the deep faked version of Isaac proceeds to take the interview. Isaac attempts to leave the taxi but is unsuccessful. Deep Faked Isaac proceeds to expose big tech as Knox then proceeds to panic as his company is exposed by it. Garland and Frank then proceed to argue about Garland making Frank think he had cancer from the CT scan that Garland corrected to get full control of the operation, Carey then proceeds to edit the script to expose correction, Garland then attempts to arrest Carey but Carey then proceeds to say that they are in US jurisdiction and that she can't be arrested here, Garland then asks Frank for help but Frank refuses to help Garland due to Garland giving faking his CT scan and doctoring his medical notes. Garland then chases after Carey Garland says that Carey doesn't know what she's done. The Deep Fake then repairs Isaacs reputation. As Isaac is in the taxi it stops in front of Piccadilly Circus as cameras record him in front of the Deep Faked version of him on a huge billboard on a building.

The Capture (TV series)

The Capture: Season Two; Peacock Teases Return of British Thriller Series

It became a drama somewhat at odds with itself: less outlandish tech effects wouldn’t have been as much fun to watch, though a less showy, more realistic take – which the script prodded us towards, via the parallels with the Huawei affair and Truro Analytics/Cambridge Analytica

The Capture series two review – implausible, daft and thoroughly gripping

The Capture, series 2 review — gripping surveillance thriller returns to BBC1 

The six-part series shifts its focus to international diplomacy after a Hong Kong dissident is assassinated in London

Immediately captivating: Holliday Grainger and Paapa Essiedu © BBC/Heyday Films

Linear television may seem like a quaint throwback these days, but the BBC’s August Bank Holiday slot still holds a certain cachet. In recent years it’s helped turn series such as The Bodyguard and Vigil into megahits. Now it seeks to repeat the trick with the second season of the acclaimed but underseen surveillance thriller 

The Capture, which returns after three years. An immediately captivating opening episode rewards the broadcaster’s faith. For newcomers — or those barely able to remember 2019, let alone the details of a knotty conspiracy — the series revolves around the intelligence services’ use of “correction”, a practice whereby camera feeds are manipulated to fabricate evidence. 

This ethically dubious operation is discovered in the first season by detective Rachel Carey (Holliday Grainger) while investigating a murder. Though she contemplates blowing the whistle, she ends up seemingly abdicating her morals by accepting a job at the Counter Terrorism Command. Set six months after those events, this second outing introduces new narrative threads. The scope of this six-part series shifts from domestic cases to international diplomacy, made clear from the opening scene which sees a Hong Kong dissident assassinated in his London home.

Across town, an ambitious security minister, Isaac Turner (Paapa Essiedu), is readying himself for a career-defining day. He’s about to recommend in public that the government torpedo a bid for a surveillance contract by a Chinese tech company known to be in the pocket of the state “If we’re as good at spying as you say we are, you might be a little more careful,” the CEO Yan Wanglei (Rob Yang) threatens diaphanously. Hours later, Turner is caught up in a major deepfake attack and the young MP discovers that he’s not so much a political heavyweight, more a powerless pawn in a clandestine global game. 

Rachel meanwhile finds herself in career purgatory at the CTC under the watchful eye of steely new boss (Lia Williams). It’s not long, however, before she manages to get back into the investigative fray and prove herself to be a few steps ahead of those above her. If this synopsis seems a little elusive, it’s to avoid diminishing the impact of the gripping, not to mention chillingly conceivable, plot developments.

The series has its limitations — the performances may feel insubstantial and the dialogue fairly dry and serviceable — but ultimately The Capture illustrates how much can be forgiven when a show is underpinned by an intelligently crafted story.