The internet is alive with debate after the screening of the first episode of Channel 4’s latest drama, “The State.” 

But this is a great deal more than a television series. 

Based on a year-long research project, including first-hand discussions with those who have travelled to Syria, this four-parter aims to get into the heads of the Britons who join ISIS. 

Global Citizen campaigns to achieve the Global Goals, including Global Goal No.16 for peace, justice, and strong institutions. You can take action here. 

Peter Kosminsky on the need to humanise British Muslim jihadis in Channel 4 drama The Statehttps://t.co/YqHKoS4zakpic.twitter.com/sty8XyIox0

— Radio Times (@RadioTimes) August 20, 2017

Read more: Over 35,000 British Muslims Gather in Hampshire to Condemn Terrorism and Promote Peace

The series follows the lives of four young, modern, educated British Muslims who leave the UK to join ISIS in Raqqa, Syria, in 2015; they are fictional characters, but they are rooted in fact.

Series director Peter Kosminsky, who was also behind the acclaimed “Wolf Hall,” has insisted it’s necessary that television “holds a mirror up” to all aspects of society. 

Nevertheless, Channel 4 has faced a serious backlash after the first episode aired on Sunday night. 

It has been accused of producing propaganda for the so-called Islamic State, and of insensitivity for refusing to postpone the first episode in the wake of the deadly Barcelona attacks last week. 

After watching 'The State' pn Channel 4, I felt it was likely to encourage other malcontents to join ISIS. Very Irresponsible @Channel4

— Malcolm McDonald (@MalcMcDonald) August 21, 2017

Bethany Haines, the daughter of aid worker David Haines, who was murdered by Jihadi John, was among those calling for the first episode to be delayed. 

“To be honest, the violence in the drama would be upsetting to anyone, but I think it would be particularly horrifying for those affected by the events of the last few days,” she said. 

Read more: 7 Things That Happened After Charlottesville That Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity

Kosminsky has said that none of the characters in his series are “mad, unsympathetic” people. For these characters, joining the so-called Caliphate is an adventure, or a chance for a better life. For the families of those who have been affected by ISIS atrocities, this will be a lot to bear.

I'm actually just so confused about why channel 4 have aired 'the state' for so many reasons

— Bish (@ruthbishop_) August 20, 2017

But others have spoken out in favour of “The State,” claiming that, by humanising the protagonists, it could prove to be a valuable tool in the fight against terrorism. 

“We know that casting ISIS recruits as pure evil and slamming the door on the subject isn’t going to help us,” says Rachel Shabi, who writes on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Middle East, in The Guardian. 

“This doubtless informs the drive to understand why seemingly everyday people who live alongside us are drawn into such incomprehensible brutality and violence.”

She adds: “We need to know purely in so much as any information, any sliver of light shed on the subject, might help our efforts to stop others from doing the same thing.” 

Read more: This Is What You Should Do If You See a Muslim Person Being Harassed

Baroness Warsi, the first Muslim woman in the Cabinet and a former Foreign Office minister, expresses a similar sentiment in The Telegraph.

“So often we have lazily defined those attracted to violent ideologies promulgated in far-off countries as mad, bad misfits and yet the reality it far more complicated,” she writes. 

“‘The State’ takes the viewer on a journey to where the mad and bad become real and human.”