The State

[Oldowl]

Anyone watching?

The doctor did talk last night about wanting to be part of building the Islamic State and recognising that she and her generation would not live to experience it's rewards. I still don't really understand and I find her character very underdeveloped. Maybe she's there to show that even educated, scientific minds can be brainwashed with this madness

Just watched the third episode. Fuck man. It's very powerful drama and I'm glad it has been made.

I noticed that it was Moroccan Arabic too

Yes, agree about the motivation being hard to grasp.
I was hoping it would emerge but now I am wondering if they have just fudged the issue.

I keep willing the doctor to take her son and run. Surely she's realised by now that she's made a huge mistake?

I actually think the angle they have taken, not going into the radicalisation, is interesting. It's like they all had different journeys there i.e. Educated doctor, idealistic young girl loyal younger brother etc but the end fact is they all end up in the same nightmare!

Horrible viewing. I'm watching with my 12 year old so tonight's scenes with the slaves and the woman's daughter was particularly hard hitting.

The doctor wouldn't be able to leave there though as there is no way she would be able to escape

-I believe most of it was filmed in
Spain.

To be fair they probably had Arabic speaking actors from all over

Kozminky is brilliant. If you are interested in back stories you ought to watch Britz.

I'm watching because I caught Peter Kosminsky talking about it on radio 4 the other night (he directed Wolf Hall).

I think it's very cleverly depicted. Highly motivated recruits realising the full horror of the hell they've entered.

'Whatever you've seen or read on Facebook...It's not how we do things here.'

omg

Also, the doctor's son. If that were my kids they would be asking when can they go home

Why would anybody take their children there :-(

And then followed by 'My Son the Jihadi' on C4 last night, which tried to explain exactly how people can be radicalised.

really don't get what's in it for the women

Well no, me neither, but that's where the radicalisation element comes in. Remember how the doctor said she would go and recruit more women to come by persuading them over the internet. The guys were then pictured doing the same thing and making life in the IS sound idyllic (free food, free accommodation, etc).

All the characters are given their own motivations. The doctor is clearly an ideologist who wants to serve the jihadi cause through medicine. The other woman is young, from a sheltered and rather spoilt background and she thought it would be romantic to be married to a mujahadeen. The guy with the beard thought he was following in his brother's glorious footsteps, until he found out he'd been beheaded as a deserter. The other guy, who became a suicide bomber last night, clearly just wanted to go and fight and be a jihadi and he didn't mind having a Yazidi sex slave either.

I missed the first episode, but otherwise the doctor really didn't ring true as a zealot. Feminist, not homophobic, shocked by her son being taught to punch that dummy... She must have been an intelligent and educated woman so how could she have got the nature of IS so wrong? If she had been full of hatred it would have been easier to understand.
Obviously intelligent women have gone out to join IS but are they really like her?

I suppose they're trying to show complex, multi-faceted characters with different motivations, rather than one-dimensional 'baddies', because otherwise the show wouldn't be interesting. I agree that the doctor is a confusing character though - initially I thought she was a zealot, but now I think she's being portrayed as an ideological Muslim who fell for the IS propaganda and is horrified by the reality.

I'm guessing there was enough research done into real people to build up characters. If they make them 100% monsters it won't ring true but if they humanise them then you realise that yes, these people were at school with tou, worked with you, taught your kids... they didn't have 2 heads or threatened you in anyway. Something broke inside them. I hope he show tries to answer that question.

have only seen the first 2 episodes and I agree the doctor is puzzling, also heard the director on R4 explaining how they did v thorough research and all characters based on that, so I guess she is showing how it's possible to blind yourself to serious flaws in an organisation you really believe in (plenty of examples of that, trivial as well as serious)
I agree the NNU scene incredibly shocking. But for the doctor, surely, this will motivate her more, as she will see this as the actions of the evil enemy.

I really like this programme. It fascinates me . Why anyone would want to go and live in Syria and become a martyr is beyond me . The place terrifies me . Even places like India terrify me and I'd never ever want to visit . I enjoy this programme as it intrigues me . I was so pleased when the Isis soldier bought the mum and daughter and gave them a lovely home . The women in Syria must be terrified . What a horrible horrible place and horrible religion . I don't get it at all

The lady doctor is very odd . I mean why would any mum want to take her son to such a country ? She is very aggressive and stand offish with everyone ! Don't like her at all

Do you think the mujahideen had murdered those men and women in the village to stir up anti shia feeling? The fighters certainly looked more ok with murdering the surrendered after they saw the bodies

The head women of the house and her constant "sweetie" when she talks to the other ladies ?? Drives me mad ! What is her character supposed to be and what purpose does she serve to the men ? She seems an odd ball and I can't work out her role in this Isis radicalisation scheme ??

They were ok because the guard had said that those women had all been raped by there own people and they needed to take down the village because they raped their own ? That's the way I read it anyways ? They covered the women but left the men open as did respect and to show the men how the men were supposed to protect the women from rape but instead had been raping them themselves

They were ok because the guard had said that those women had all been raped by there own people and they needed to take down the village because they raped their own ? That's the way I read it anyways ? They covered the women but left the men open as did respect and to show the men how the men were supposed to protect the women from rape but instead had been raping them themselves