I can understand why a lot of viewers tuned out after the ponderous first episode, but it is a shame, as the second instalment ratcheted the tension up nicely. The drag on the story was not the the weight of polemic, so much as the human interest elements; these had some relevance in setting up character motivation and building plot, but it was impossible to care about Rupert Penry-Jones bland corporate man or Neve Campbell's simpering environmental do-gooder. Also the ending depended a lot on our accepting the relationship between Penry-Jones and Bradley Whitford, but the background to this was never explained.The environmental scenarios in the storyline were certainly credible, the political aspects perhaps less so. The rival lobbyists played by Bradley Whitford and Marc Warren did not seem rooted in any recognisable political power structure, and it is to the credit of both actors that the characters came to life as more than two dimensional cyphers. The depiction of big oil was perhaps simplistic. Not all in the industry are opposed to Kyoto; outside of the US at least, it is seen as a commercial opportunity. The likes of BP and Shell do not particularly care what energy agenda Governments adopt so long as they send out clear signals and stand-by them, enabling investments to be planned with minimal risk. US intransigence on Kyoto is driven more by a lack of political will to tackle the average voter's seeming belief that it is their God-ordained right to consume a vastly disproportionate share of the planet's resources.

A real shame it started to well on the first episode , but became a farce on the second. Most of the facts seem correct, but the over dramatisation ,poor acting and the just the plot lines which never meet , make it near impossible to watch with out thinking 'what's happening now ' . The 'lack' of quality acting shows through in the second episode. It's seems the production was rushed and many scenes are cobbled together with out thought of keeping the story line on track , also the ending turns in to a party political broadcast rather than a ending with any real completion . I think the BBC and Canadian global network ,could have done a better Job of this . Drama is meant to be drama , this is not in my opinion .unless you have lot's of free time on your hand's , give it a miss.

At once fulfilling and confounding expectations. It has half the cast and all the production values of BBC flagship dramas (Spooks and Hustle) that fall short of their superior American counterparts. But it has backed its ambition with money on wonderful location shoots, Lukas Strebel's feature-grade photography and a trump card of political drama casting.Bradley Whitford tears around this 'TV mini-series' in a Michael Douglas-in-Falling Down buzzcut, making himself the least likable, most watchable character on screen. His gravitas, warped into delivering the ideological heart of the script - not simply that climate change is bad but rather the sociopolitical implications for dealing with it are extremely serious - is the sine qua non of this film's success, such as it is.The principal cast grouped around Whitford dispense the narrative drama ably enough. I found myself more impressed with Neve Campbell than with her British counterparts (Penry-Jones & Marc Warren). Here and elsewhere the script demands a sort of infomercial mentality though which always grates. British TV drama still isn't quite there. 5/10

I thought this was an excellent mini-series. It certainly managed to hold my attention. It was well acted with no notable exceptions. It was well paced, relevant, and frighteningly believable. I cannot say I know anything about this prior to catching it on TV, and I really don't have the background to suggest how factually accurate any aspect of this might be, but it certainly is an eye-opener and a possible starting place for people to become interested in the global politics and economics surrounding the existing establishment and the impact and importance of climate change and environmental awareness.This sort of program is what I have been expecting a move towards in a supposedly educated, modern world. I honestly think individuals fail to realize the power they have in todays society. The ability for any of us individually or collectively have our voices heard in a global forum via television, and in more recent times, the internet, is something we all conveniently manage to forget in our own personal pursuit of entertainment. Programs like this use the oft wasted resources not only to entertain, but to engage us, and even help to educate us to the fragile nature of the world we have helped to forge. At the end, we get to back to our self-indulgent lifestyle, but perhaps feeling a bit more consciously aware of our own silent participation and perpetuation of the status quo. I believe this mini-series challenges us to face the facts by confronting us with the cold reality that no matter what the ultimate reason ends up being, things will not just continue on the way they presently do. If were smart and bold enough, we will prepare ourselves to meet the challenges and deal with the issues before it is forced upon us, ready or not.