At the end of the 1980s, "Traffik" was an early indication that Channel 4's financial investment in film would be worthwhile and not pull any punches. The series depicts a soulless society embroiled in the catchments of its own greed. Drug trafficking is a political hot potato that one man alone cannot hope to spearhead a war against. Minister Jack Lithgow (Bill Paterson) realises this somewhere in between negotiating an international crackdown policy and discovering his daughter Caroline (Julia Ormond) is hooked on the very thing he's fighting to eradicate. This is one of three threads masterfully interwoven in Simon Moore's script and spread across six episodes. At the other corners of the Heroin triangle are Hamburg and Pakistan. In Germany, businessman Rosshalde is arrested on smuggling charges. This triggers a startling personality change in his wife Helen (Lindsay Duncan), who takes on a Lady Macbeth-like role in destroying everything obstructing her financial security. In Kurachi we follow the woes of farmer Fazal (Jamal Shah) as he finds work with drug baron Tariq Butt (Talat Hussain).
Performances are outstanding as the taut plot draws these elements toward a cold finale. BAFTAs were awarded to the series' design, camerawork and sound. Technically it's as brilliant as Steven Soderbergh's 2000 cinematic remake "Traffic". But in the characterisations of a populace who are all wrong in their views on drug use, you'll be hard pressed to find a better presentation of the subject on the big or small screen.
On the DVD: Eight chapters per episode; picture and sound adequate. That's it. Like the subject of the series, the search for extra happiness is a fruitless one. --"Paul Tonks"