Television audiences are obviously demanding more and more well made drama programmes, ones that have stellar casts and are as meaty as a good thriller on the big screen.

One of these is Homeland, a new series now being shown on RTÉ 2 on Fridays and which stars Clare Danes (Shakespeare in Love) and Damian Lewis (Band of Brothers and Life).

Recent historical events are the basis of this latest drama, though the latest series of Damages, starring the wonderful Glenn Close, also has a Middle Eastern story line.

Homeland is basically about a returned American marine who was a Prisoner of War in Afghanistan for eight years and who one CIA agent (Danes) believes has been turned by Al Qaeda.

It is obvious that for some years to come Al Qaeda and other forces in the Middle East will replace Russia as the ‘baddies’ who are threatening the Western world. Since the end of the Cold War and the demise of the Berlin Wall, film and programme makers fell short in finding a perceived serious political threat. 9/11 changed all that.
Danes is absolutely brilliant as the psychotic agent who has blotted her copybook before and embarrassed the agency.

There is a touch of the Bourne Identity about the series and the pace alters from fast action to moody scenes.

On the realistic side, the difficulties of any soldier returning home and trying to resume a normal life is well presented but of course the series has bigger issues to explore. The domestic side of life takes a back seat to questions of loyalty, treachery and world politics.

The Americans no doubt will make hay of people’s paranoia about terrorists and use these type of story lines for some time to come. And as US productions tend to make the Americans look like the good guys all the time, it will be interesting to see how the next ten episodes progress.

This is a sleek production which shouldn’t be missed though I am flabbergasted that RTÉ is airing it up against The Late Late Show on RTÉ 1.

But maybe they are banking on people being able to record it on their Sky and UPC boxes.

On that score our box is quite busy now on Fridays, with return of The Big C (starring Laura Linney as a woman with cancer – it’s listed as a comedy) starting at 9pm, Homeland at 9.35pm and Damages an hour later.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.