Burn Up  

I watched the first episode of the series Burn Up on (ABC) TV tonight and quite enjoyed it - Burn Up. Next episode is on next Sunday (for Australian viewers - British viewers got to watch it back in 2008).

From the oil fields of Saudi Arabia to the boardrooms of London, Burn Up is a two-part topical thriller set in the real-life context of climate change as oil company executives, environmental activists and politicians collide in the battle between economic success and ecological responsibility.

Starring Rupert Penry-Jones (Spooks, Whitechapel), Bradley Whitford (The West Wing), Neve Campbell (Party Of Five) and Marc Warren (Hustle), Burn Up is a potent mix of fiction and fact that will enlighten as much as entertain.

Tom McConnell (Rupert Penry-Jones) has just been made head of Arrow Oil, a hugely powerful and wildly profitable oil company. With a happy family and lucrative promotion, life couldn’t get any sweeter. But the assassination of six geologists working in the Saudi desert will turn Tom’s world upside down and Tom will slowly uncover a sinister side of business.

Always the company man, Tom is as loyal as they come and a staunch defender of the oil business, denying any link from the work of Arrow Oil to climate change. His charismatic best friend and oil lobbyist Mack (Bradley Whitford) helps confirm his convictions. But when a young Inuit, Mika (Sandrine Holt), alleges that Tom and Arrow Oil are ruining the lives of her people, with scant regard for the environmental impact of their work, Tom starts to question Arrow Oil.

Joined by his environmental advisor Holly (Neve Campbell), Tom takes a trip to Mika’s homeland and learns first-hand the growing climate change problem, a problem he can’t ignore any more. He also can’t ignore his growing attraction to Holly. But when Mack reveals that she is a spy in collaboration with environmentalists, Tom is stunned and starts to question who he can trust.