On Wednesday, May 1, 2024, or the day before the general election, James Cox (Edward Holcroft) drops Saara Parvin (Hannah Khalique-Brown) off at her family’s. After he questions when he’ll get to meet them, Saara says soon. Saara’s sister recommends letting Saara have a turn handling the baby, but she doesn’t want to. Her mother says she doesn’t have a maternal bone in her body unlike her big sister. Sajid (Gavi Singh Chera) joins them and learns Saara came to see her new nephew although he thought it might have something to do with the election. She gets emotional when she checks her father’s den and learns all of his belongings have been removed. Once she finds his backgammon board, she makes her brother play with her. Sajid says this was their game and their dad made it obvious she was his favorite.
She doesn’t believe that, but Sajid says they felt a bit rejected by both of them. Saara claims her father needed help and she was the only one to do anything with him. The subject is changed when Sajid reveals he is training to become an imam because he thinks dad would’ve wanted that. Saara doesn’t agree since mom was the religious one. His dad said it was all BS, but Sajid thinks he might’ve believed it deep down. Saara admits there is something she should probably tell him. Sajid thinks it has something to do with a white boy she met in London, but Saara says it is something else. He is shocked when he learns she is doing work experience at the GCHQ. Sajid accuses her of working for the enemy because they spy on Muslims.
She says she isn’t doing surveillance stuff and instead is working in cyber security. Regardless, Sajid doesn’t think it is okay to work for an agency that is criminalizing your community. He says it is okay if she is going to BS herself, but he shouldn’t try to BS her. As usual, she doesn’t care about the consequences for anyone else. As they go to the polling station, Amina (Aysha Kala) asks Saara what is going on between her and Sajid. Saara says nothing. When Saara gets to vote, she doesn’t vote for anyone. She overhears her mom complaining that she isn’t on the register. The poll worker tells her that her name isn’t on the list so she can’t vote. Marina (Tinatin Dalakishvili) reports that they’re not allowed to say anything political before the polls close tonight, but they’re going to break that rule.
She claims people are being deprived of the right to vote. They pull over and talk to a woman named Farzhania Shah who received her official poll card last week, but they claim she isn’t on the register. Social media reports indicate that this is happening all over the country right now although it is more common in areas with higher ethnic minorities. That would mean a high number of Labour voters so it looks like someone is trying to rig this election for the Tories. Saara tells Kathy that this is what happened to her mother. Kathy (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) seems more interested in other things. Saara asks if she has decided about going back, but Kathy won’t leave until the end of her tour. Although NSA wants her back, it is her decision. James joins them before asking if they’d like tea.
Danny (Simon Pegg) talks to Elizabeth (Hattie Morahan) about the ethnic minorities that were removed from the voting registry. Danny admits it could be another hack, but it’d be pretty difficult. They aren’t protecting it because they thought it was too fragmented to be targeted. They focused on the national picture and protecting the results. Danny thinks it would be an impossible task. Although a hostile state could do it, it would be an improbable target. Danny knows everyone is saying cyberattack every time something goes wrong, but it is more likely that it was a bureaucratic cock-up. Elizabeth admits it’ll have to play out until the polls close. After that, they’ll need a full inquiry into what happened and how. James gets excited when he learns that the BBC is predicting a Labour victory based on exit polls.
He tries to get Saara to go to town to celebrate with him since it is a big moment, but Saara isn’t interested. Once James leaves, Kathy tells Saara that she could go since GCHQ staff are allowed to have political views. Saara says she didn’t one to before asking why she didn’t go back to the States when she had the chance. She begins kissing Kathy. Russia Global News says what the BBC reported was different from what the returning offices of the count are providing. The reporter claims that the BBC is trying to fix the election for the Tories. Rich (Andrew Rothney) contacts Danny from the BBC offices to say there is a difference between what they’re announcing on air and what is going on at the counts. He is fairly sure they haven’t been hacked at the broadcasting house though.
The discrepancies are happening at counts where the BBC does not have cameras. Russia Global News does have cameras at those locations. Some are very boring seats for MPs that people have never heard of. They speculate they wouldn’t be there unless they knew something was up ahead of time. Marina does a news report about protests that are turning violent. Angie and Marina watch it together as she hears a shot and sees someone being carried away. Then, it is projected that the conservatives will form the next government with a majority of 331 to 214. The reporter reminds viewers that the results are much different than what was reported earlier. He admits they’re trying to get to the bottom of what happened. James and others watch as Andrew Makine (Adrian Lester) arrives and waves at the crowd. Saara and Kathy are shown in bed together.
Saara says she needs to return to the sofa because James will be back. She asks her to take her clothes. Danny is told that the explosion in Marina’s video is a sophisticated fake. When David (Alex Jennings) says he doesn’t understand which parts are fake, she tells him that all of it is fake. She tells them how it was likely created and that the reporter was probably added last. Millie (Florence Bell) says they’re guessing since they haven’t seen anything this sophisticated before. Annie is asked about the MI5’s view on this. She says it is true that people have gathered at polling stations, but there haven’t been any violent incidents. They believe it is a deepfake being broadcast by RGN to provoke. She believes it will eventually lead to the response they want as the day goes on. James is next to Saara when she wakes up in the morning.
Saara watches a news report about people taking to the streets to protest what they say is a stolen election. When James gets up, he tells her that they lost. She invites him to sit down and watch with her. A man on television complains that he couldn’t vote with his polling card, but a white man could. He asks Saara what is going on with her and Kathy only for her to say nothing. Every time he walks in, he feels like he is interrupting something. Saara says they just can’t talk about work when he is around. During a COBRA meeting, the PM asks about the false results. He complains that someone is trying to make it look like they rigged an election that they won legitimately. David says they don’t think it was the BBC computers that were hacked. Instead, they think it was the press association’s computers. Danny says the PA has stringers at every count in the UK.
They enter the results as they come up. Since the BBC can’t afford to do this anymore, they focus on high-profile elections while using the PA for other results. It is believed this was hacked to give several low-profile seats to the Tories that had actually been won by Labour. When the BBC printed the wrong results, it looked like they were doctoring them to favor the Tories. Richard Martson (Ed Stoppard) asks what the point was besides making the BBC look more inept than usual. David thinks they just wanted to create chaos and confusion. Elizabeth adds that it was done to make Labour voters think the election had been stolen. The PM recommends getting this information out immediately as a GCHQ press release. Elizabeth says they can’t do that because it would make the GCHQ look pro-Torie.
She says they can’t be seen to take sides, but he says they can’t be seen to do anything. Andrew wonders if he should ask why they didn’t see this coming and why they didn’t take steps to prevent this from happening. He suggests the Russians have completely outwitted them again. Drone footage from one of the protests comes in so Andrew says they should get back. James arrives at his class only to find that half of the students are missing because they went to the protests. He asks another teacher to keep an eye on his class so he can find his other students and make sure they’re safe. She believes he should check with the head first since he could lose his job. He says that is only if she doesn’t tell them. Saara and Kathy move through the protest to enter the GCHQ building. They have to push their way through to get inside.
Once they go inside, Kathy checks on Saara before saying she has to go. They watch riot offices walk past. When Saara turns around, Kathy is already gone. James moves through the protestors. He finds his students and tries to get them to leave, but they’re adamant about staying. He tells them to get down and cover their faces as the cops begin shooting teargas into the crowd. Andrew speaks to the public and promises that this wasn’t caused by anyone in the UK trying to steal an election. He says a foreign power is trying to subvert their democracy and they’re under attack. He blames Russia. Danny and David contact Kathy to ask what the bots are saying. She checks and finds that they’re claiming the Tories are trying to cling to the office despite having lost the election. The PM begins talking about GCHQ and how they weren’t able to prevent the attack.
He says they won’t make that mistake again. The PM also asks protestors not to take their anger out on the people trying to keep them safe. Instead, they should direct it at a foreign power interfering with the affairs of another country. David and Danny theorize where Putin is going with this. Marina talks to a man who argues that the government has more to gain from rigging the election than Russia. Jack Barber (Lucas Hare) says he has information that GCHQ had personnel at the BBC during the election program. He believes the British public should do exactly what they’re doing including getting out there and protesting loudly. He says they should show the so-called government what they think about how they’re being treated. During another meeting, Richard Marston says there is discontent caused by the fake videos. He also argues that GCHQ has failed in keeping the election secure.
Elizabeth wants to make sure they’re not going to take action against GCHQ. The Prime Minister promises that they’re not suggesting that at this point. He says MI5 has evidence suggesting some of the organizations involved in the protests took money from Russia. The PM believes their agenda is being shaped by a foreign power. As a result, he has decided to declare a state of emergency. Richard recommends letting the army restore order, but the PM refuses to do that. He doesn’t want to put soldiers on the street and reinforce the idea that they’re seizing power. The state of emergency is announced on television as locals are asked to stay indoors between 6 PM and 6 AM. There will be exceptions including Saara and the other GCHQ workers. Then, we see a link to the leaked NSA geo-location malware as Kathy looks through the source.
She begins panicking so she tells Danny and David who go on to tell Elizabeth about the leak. David admits it is a possibly catastrophic leak. Danny says their data started appearing on the Wikileaks website and it is still uploading. Everything being uploaded seems to belong to the NSA and was shared with GCHQ. It is most of their current exploits. David will be calling them next even though they likely already know. Danny confesses there is likely nothing they can do. Elizabeth says she is going to brief the Prime Minister. Lieutenant Colonel Andy Marsh (Keiron Self) admits on television that this could set the NSA back decades.
It is very embarrassing for the UK since they allowed data belonging to their closest ally to be stolen and made public. There are documents suggesting they’ve been spying on the NSA and the White House. He thinks they might have a UK Edward Snowden on their hands since it was likely someone from GCHQ. Max (Tom McKay) tells Saara that Danny wants to see her now. She joins a group of others as they’re interviewed one by one. When she joins him, Danny asks if she met Vadim in Harrogate. She admits it was him although she hasn’t had any other contact with him since. He lets her go after that. After Kathy finishes talking to someone at the NSA, she tells Saara that this leak is incredibly damaging. It is worse than anything from Snowden and it is significant that they were leaked from the GCHQ. It could change everything.
Kathy confesses it was her who told Danny that she met Vadim in Harrogate. She did it to protect her and because it is her job. She warns Saara that Vadim is not her friend and whatever happened at college was a provocation. In private, Saara asks where they’re going with this since they were making love last night. Kathy says it is a friendship because she is living with James. Saara asks what would happen if she wasn’t living with James. Kathy asks her to come and talk to her when she isn’t living with him. Saara remembers what Vadim told her about something else being hidden in the malware. She also recalls him saying he was glad that it was her. Then, she finds out that Danny wants to see her again. During the meeting, she is asked about going to Oakley with John (Mark Rylance) and visiting his home after work.
He has gone missing. Saara is accused of working with him to leak classified information. She says he is old and they should be worried about his welfare before accusing him. Saara joins the others as they learn that John is on television in Moscow saying he is fed up with the GCHQ. He says the UK is not different than what they’re accusing the Russians of being. John claims they made the whole thing up about their Internet being taken down.
The Undeclared War Review
This episode of The Undeclared War was a watchable experience that touched on many modern topics such as deepfake videos and stolen elections. The ending was also very interesting although I worry that this might become too farfetched. It could be an interesting twist.
The show still feels like bad propaganda at times as if nothing bad happens in the United Kingdom. This is one of the main reasons I worry about the handling of John’s statements on Russian television. The series previously showed that there was already tension because of inflation and other things going on.
Is it so tough to believe a protest could get violent without a foreign nation’s provocation? While this is watchable entertainment, the message sometimes seems a bit silly. The finale should be interesting with the latest revelation. The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of The Undeclared War can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our work at this link.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
