We mean the 6hr. BBC miniseries, not the Russell Crowe-Ben Affleck remake opening today. Both are about the murder of a woman connected to a prominent politician, and a dogged news team’s search for the truth while fighting off the police, the government and powerful corporations with lots to hide. But the original — written by Paul Abbott and directed by David Yates — is much more vigorous and comprehensive in showing how journalists get a big story, wheedle details out of sources and fight their natural instincts to defend a friend who’s also the subject of an exposé.
Among the added perks in the BBC version: Polly Walker, world’s most desirable woman, as the politician’s estranged wife, and Bill Nighy, purring sulfur as the paper’s harried editor. This twisty mystery is also a hymn to old-fashioned journalism — the kind where the drudgery of digging for a story, not spitballing on a blog, wins acclaim, readers and self-respect.