The Undeclared War - Press Pack

Category: Press Pack

8 July 2022

About The Undeclared War

Set in 2024, “The Undeclared War” tracks a leading team of analysts buried in the heart of GCHQ, secretly working to ward off a series of cyber-attacks on the UK in the run up to a general election. When a routine stress test of internet infrastructure goes awry 21-year-old GCHQ intern Saara Parvin (played by Hannah Khalique-Brown) suddenly finds herself operating on the invisible frontier of high-stakes cyber warfare. The series is a result of meticulous research by BAFTA award-winning creator Peter Kosminsky, lifting the veil on the most urgent battle of our time.

In a thrilling cat and mouse game, Saara and the team at GCHQ must try to stay one step ahead and anticipate their opponents’ every hidden move. The clock is ticking as a battle with high stakes and unpredictable enemies takes place entirely online, with very real consequences. But how do you win a war most of the public don’t know you’re fighting?

Additional cast also features: Simon Pegg, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Adrian Lester, Alex Jennings, Mark Rylance, and Kerry Godliman

The Undeclared War is a Playground, Stonehenge Films and Universal International Studios co-production for Channel 4 and Peacock.

Credits

The Undeclared War is a Playground, Stonehenge Films and Universal International Studios co-production for Channel 4 and Peacock, created and directed by BAFTA winner Peter Kosminsky. Kosminsky directs all six episodes and has written four. Other writers include Declan Lawn (The Salisbury Poisonings), Adam Patterson (The Salisbury Poisonings) and Amelia Spencer (Dead Birds).

Kosminsky also serves as Executive Producer alongside Colin Callender (Wolf Hall, All Creatures Great and Small) and Noëlette Buckley (Wolf Hall, King Lear) for Playground. Robert Jones (Babylon) is the Producer.

Contacts

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Press Pack

8 Jul 22 Press Pack Article

Episodic Synopsis - The Undeclared War

The Undeclared War Episode 1 Saara, a second-year computer science student at London University, wins a highly sought-after work experience place at GCHQ. Her first day coincides with GCHQ’s stress-test of the security of telecommunications internet infrastructure, during which a significant part of

8 Jul 22 Interview

Interview: Peter Kosminsky (creator, writer, director & executive producer)

What is the story of The Undeclared War? PK: The Undeclared War is fiction but based very heavily on research carried out over a number of years. The story is of a young trainee who arrives part way through her university career to do a work experience placement at GCHQ. She’s a talented computer

8 Jul 22 Interview

Interview with Colin Callender (executive producer)

What is the story of The Undeclared War? CC: This is a peeling back of the veil of on a world that we read about in the headlines, but we really don’t understand. What “The Undeclared War” really does is it takes us inside GCHQ which is the nerve centre of cyber warfare – and it puts a face on all

8 Jul 22 Interview

Interview with Hannah Khalique-Brown (SAARA PARVIN)

Tell us Saara’s story in The Undeclared War HKB: The Undeclared War finds Saara when she’s a computer science student at Imperial College London, and she’s just finished her second year when she takes a placement at GCHQ. She joins their malware department for a year – like work experience – and on

8 Jul 22 Interview

Interview with Simon Pegg (DANNY PATRICK)

What’s the story of “The Undeclared War”? SP: “The Undeclared War” is about a young student called Saara Parvin who takes a work experience placement at GCHQ at a time when there’s immense upheaval in her own life – and a terrifying geopolitical crisis evolves while she’s there which she becomes

8 Jul 22 Interview

Interview with Maisie Richardson-Sellers (KATHY FREEMAN)

What’s Kathy’s story in The Undeclared War? MRS: In “The Undeclared War”, Kathy is a cyber-analyst, and she comes from the NSA – which is the American counterpart to GCHQ, and she’s on attachment in the UK for two years. She comes from a military background and has decided that rather than taking

8 Jul 22 Interview

Interview with Alex Jennings (DAVID NEAL)

What is David’s story in “The Undeclared War”? AJ: David is the Head of GCHQ, and that post is traditionally – which I didn’t know before filming this – a civil service role and I think on average, people do five or six years in the post. The head of GCHQ is the conduit between the really brainy

8 Jul 22 Interview

Interview with Adrian Lester (ANDREW MAKINDE)

Could you give us a brief outline of the story of “The Undeclared War”? AL: There are lots of stories in it really. The main thrust of the plot is that each episode tracks an escalating cyber war between Britain and Russia, and in every episode, you see the personal as well as the political cost of

8 Jul 22 Press Pack Article

Character descriptions - The Undeclared War

SAARA PARVIN (Hannah Khalique-Brown) Saara is a second-year computer science student at London University, who wins a highly sought-after work experience place at GCHQ. The only people in her personal life who are aware of her new role are for her father with whom she has a special bond, and her