Last Enemy, the
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Last Enemy, the
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| Episodes: | 5 |
| Year: | 2008 |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Seasons: | 1 |
| Seasons Breakdown: | ((1) 5 |
| Category: | Dystopian |
| Colour: | Yes |
| Format: | Series |
| Company: | BOX TV Limited and WGBH Boston |
| Creator: | Peter Berry |
| Run Time (mins): | 60-85 |
| Language: | English |
| Type of Show: | Live Action |
| Status: | Ended |
| Broadcaster: | BBC |
Summary
Set in a dystopian near‑future London, The Last Enemy depicts the rollout of Total Information Awareness (TIA), an ambitious centralised data‑integration system designed to consolidate all government and corporate records into a single surveillance architecture. The platform aggregates financial transactions, telecommunications metadata, internet activity, consumer purchases, rental histories, and other behavioural indicators, enabling authorities to track and profile any individual with unprecedented granularity.
The narrative explores a political cover‑up surrounding a covert, government‑sanctioned medical experiment that has spiralled out of control. Senior officials attempt to conceal evidence that an experimental vaccine batch may be responsible for a lethal viral outbreak. As the conspiracy deepens, the story foregrounds the moral, social, and privacy implications of the TIA system in a post‑7/7 security climate, incorporating familiar mechanisms of state control such as retinal scanning, fingerprint identification, ubiquitous CCTV coverage, and pervasive mobile‑phone surveillance.
The drama unfolds through the perspective of Stephen Ezard, a reclusive mathematical prodigy exhibiting traits of obsessive‑compulsive disorder. Drawn reluctantly into the machinery of a compromised British state, Stephen uses his analytical brilliance, and the very TIA system he distrusts, to investigate the truth behind the virus and Yasim Anwar’s disappearance. His search leads him into a labyrinth of manipulation, revealing that he has become an unwitting pawn in the Security State’s machinations. As the conspiracy tightens, Stephen’s closest relationships are destroyed, leaving him irrevocably compromised by the institutions he once believed he could navigate.
Cast
Stephen Ezard BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH, Yasir Anwar ANAMAIRA MARINCA, Michael Ezard MAX BEESLEY, David Russel ROBERT CARLYLE, Eleanor Brooke EVA BIRTHISTLE, Barbara Turney GERALDINE JAMES, Patric Nye DAVID HAREWOOD, George Gibbon CHRISTOPHER FULFORD, Nadir Al-Fulani ALINA SERBAN, Professor Lawrence Cooper PAUL HIGGINS, Professor John Moreton NICHOLAS SIDI, Lord Cawston DAVID CALDER, Bryan Holland JAMES LANCE, Andrew Wilcox SAM SHELLA, Susan Ross NIKKI AMUKA-BIRD.
Tags: Dystopian, United Kingdom, 2008, English
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