REVIEW: ‘Hostage’ Is A Triumph Of British Drama
- Emma Fisher
- Aug 20
- 4 min read
This article contains spoilers for Hostage.
Political dramas aren’t new to British television, but Hostage manages to make the genre feel sharper, faster, and more personal than it has in years. Starring Suranne Jones as the newly elected Prime Minister, Abigail Dalton, the five-episode series, streaming on Netflix from August 21, combines the intensity of a high-stakes kidnapping with the murky compromises of modern politics. Dalton’s carefully constructed world is upended when her husband, Dr. Alex Anderson (Ashley Thomas), a doctor working abroad, is taken hostage in French Guiana.
Jones takes on a role that demands both commanding authority and raw vulnerability, and delivers on both fronts, portraying a leader who must navigate impossible choices while keeping her family from splintering under the strain of public life. She is matched brilliantly by Julie Delpy as French President Vivienne Toussaint, whose poise and determination make her as compelling as she is unpredictable. The relationship between the two women, veering between allyship and rivalry, becomes one of the drama’s richest aspects.
The opening episode wastes no time establishing the stakes. We first see Dalton’s hesitance about running for office, which is encouraged by her husband, before she is swiftly ushered into Downing Street with her family. The optimism of that moment fractures eight months later, as she faces an opposition lambasting her for gutting the military to fund the NHS. When a desperate shortage of cancer drugs begins to claim lives, Dalton makes the fatal political error of promising on the floor of the Commons that “nothing will distract” her from fixing it. Hours later, Alex is kidnapped in French Guiana alongside his colleagues, at the hands of armed men. Ironically, a chilling ransom video demands her resignation within 24 hours. If she fails to do so, those taken will die one by one until she reigns, binding her personal life to her political survival.
From here, the show rarely lets up. When Dalton faces off against Toussaint, it’s not just a question of who holds the stronger hand in their negotiations, but also who can emerge politically unscathed. Toussaint’s demands, framed around border security and migration, as she fights to be re-elected, carry a harsh reminder that politics is rarely about a single issue. Every decision has consequences that ripple far beyond the immediate crisis, a theme the series returns to repeatedly with devastating effect.
By episode three, a viral video of a child dying from a lack of medication exposes the brutal human cost of the NHS shortages, and Dalton is forced into even murkier alliances. The clip of five-year-old Attaf Diwala gasping for breath outside a shuttered pharmacy in his distressed mother's arms becomes political dynamite, weaponised by her opponents in Parliament. Dalton’s daughter, Sylvie (Isobel Akuwudike), meanwhile, begins to question whether her mother cares more about her job than her family, heightening the personal cost of office. The series never shies away from Dalton’s missteps, and though she remains sympathetic, she is not spared the political and personal compromises that come with power.
The pacing is relentless. Across five episodes, Hostage rarely slows down. Though its Netflix release encourages bingeing, the series feels almost designed for the slow-burn tension of weekly instalments similar to Bodyguard on BBC One. As the episodes pass by, it becomes clear that the series is meant to be watched together as theories run rife on social media. Episode four is the most shocking of the lot, and the strongest of the five, with a cabinet rebellion, an attack, and a death that will leave the audience reeling. Creator and writer Matt Charman never lets you forget that in this world, no one is safe, and even the most powerful can be sacrificed or find themselves in harm’s way. After all, a single laptop can bring Downing Street to its knees, and alliances can dissolve without warning.
By its conclusion, Hostage has delivered a political thriller that is both urgent and unsettling. Its conspiracies and crises may be heightened for drama, but the questions it asks about power, loyalty, and the price of leadership are grounded in concerns that feel distinctly of our moment. The series is as much about a woman trying to hold her family together as it is about the future of a government under siege, making it resonate on both intimate and national levels. Even when it occasionally veers into melodrama, think a secret affair you'll grow to root for and blackmail plots, it remains grounded in an unnerving plausibility. As Dalton learns, every decision in politics leaves casualties, and ghosts of past compromises never truly disappear.
In an era where politics can often feel like theatre, Hostage reminds us of what is at stake behind the soundbites and headlines: lives, relationships, the Great British public, and the weight of responsibility. Charman's high-stakes storytelling masterfully delivers a sharp, breathless piece of television - one you’ll want to devour, even if you wish you had savoured it more slowly.
Rating: ★★★★☆
About Hostage
Premiere Date: August 21, 2025
Episode Count: 5
Executive Producers: Matt Charman, Foz Allan, Suranne Jones, Steve Searle
Writer: Matt Charman
Director: Isabelle Sieb, Amy Neil
Production: Netflix with Binocular Productions
Distribution: Netflix
Cast: Suranne Jones, Julie Delpy, Corey Mylchreest, Lucian Msamati, Ashley Thomas, James Cosmo, Martin McCann, Jehnney Beth
Synopsis: When the British Prime Minister’s husband is kidnapped and the visiting French President is blackmailed, the two political leaders both face unimaginable choices. Forced into a fierce rivalry where their political futures, and lives, might hang in the balance, can they work together to uncover the plot that threatens them both?
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