Like director Steven Soderbergh's Traffic -- the Academy Award-winning feature film it inspired -- the 1989 British miniseries Traffik is a prism-like tale of agony, betrayal, and desperation that refracts the various stages in the illicit drug trade into a stunning panorama.

This extraordinarily matter-of-fact view of the heroin-trafficking business spans two continents and three countries -- Pakistan, Germany, and England, with Jack Lithgow (Bill Paterson) at the heart of the dramatic ensemble. Lithgow, a British government minister sent to Pakistan to observe and recommend ways to combat that country's heroin problem, makes the acquaintance of Fazal (Jamal Shah), an impoverished Pakistani poppy farmer; and Karl (George Kukura), a prosperous German trafficker.

On the other end of this heroin food chain is Lithgow's daughter Caroline, portrayed by Julia Ormond, who shows striking grit in her first major role. Also outstanding is Lindsay Duncan as Karl's glitzy wife, Helen, who basks in the prosperity resulting from her husband's criminality.

The nearly five-and-a-half-hour miniseries offers a quiet critique of the loud, brash, power-driven trafficking business, provoking thought and emotion. As with director Soderbergh's adaptation, spellbound viewers of Traffik will likely find themselves feeling empathy for these richly drawn characters.


Special Features:

- Interview with writer Simon Moore and producer Brian Eastman
- Extended U.K. broadcast version of episode 6
- Photo gallery
- Production notes
- Cast filmographies