Paul Abbott was prompted to write State of Play after BBC Head of Drama Jane Tranter asked him whether he would consider writing something 'bigger' than anything he had written so far in his career.

State of Play was Paul Abbott's first attempt at writing a political thriller, and he initially made the majority of the plot up as he went along.

The series marked a major turning point in director David Yates's career, as he went on to direct various high-profile television projects after working on this show.

Episodes two to five originally premiered on the digital channel BBC Four at 10pm on the same nights their preceding episodes aired on BBC One, but episode six was held back for a BBC One premiere so its final twists would not be spoiled for viewers without digital television access.

A sequel series was commissioned from Abbott even before the first series had aired, but by 2006 it appeared to have been abandoned, with Abbott telling BBC Radio 4's Front Row that he 'couldn't find a way to make the story work'.

Bill Nighy won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for his role, and the series also won a Peabody Award in 2004 plus BAFTAs for Best Sound and Best Editing.

The series was adapted into an Americanized 2009 feature film directed by Kevin Macdonald, relocating the story from London to Washington, D.C. and condensing the six-hour narrative into a two-hour format.

For the 2009 film adaptation, Ben Affleck, who played Congressman Stephen Collins, said he drew on the real-life experiences of Gary Condit, Eliot Spitzer, and John Edwards while preparing for the role.