TECH THRILLERS ADJANI SALMON

AS IF THE REAL WORLD WEREN’T SCARY ENOUGH, two recent British dramas have shed a light on current and future worlds where technology has the power to shape and influence geopolitical events. Set in 2024, Peter Kosminsky’s series The Undeclared War (pictured) follows a team of analysts working within the secretive world of UK intelligence service GCHQ to ward off a series of cyber attacks in the run-up to a general election. When a routine stress test of internet infrastructure goes awry, GCHQ intern Saara Parvin (Hannah Khalique-Brown) finds herself on the front line of cyber warfare. This year also saw the welcome return of The Capture, Ben Chanan’s timely and topical surveillance thriller that portrays a world in which deepfake videos and real-time video manipulation are common – if highly secretive – practices employed by governments to suit their own needs or upset the ambitions of others.

THE WINNER OF THE EMERGING TALENT – FICTION AWARD

AT THIS YEAR’S BAFTA TV CRAFT AWARDS, Salmon has burst onto screens in the past year thanks to his BBC Comedy Slice entry Dreaming Whilst Black, which he starred in and co-wrote. Based on his own YouTube series of the same name, it follows an aspiring filmmaker who is trapped in a dead-end job and must decide whether to follow or give up his dreams. Actor, writer, director and producer Salmon has also starred in Channel 4’s Chivalry, and joined Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill, John Bishop and Aisling Bea in the TARDIS for Doctor Who episode Eve of the Daleks

WEBCOMIC, GRAPHIC NOVEL,

HIT

Netflix

TELEVISION SERIES… Heartstopper has become a cultural phenomenon since its launch on the streamer in April. Adapted by Alice Oseman from her own LGBTQ+ romance comic, it is a wonderfully sweet and uplifting coming-of-age story about teenagers Charlie and Nick, who discover their friendship may be something more as they navigate school and the complexities of young love. Winning rave reviews from critics and fans of the original source material alike, the series blends perfect performances from its young cast with fleeting touches of Oseman’s own illustrations that only serve to heighten, rather than direct, the emotions on screen. Two more seasons are on the way.