Now that the national conventions of the two major U.S. political parties are over, we head into the homestretch of this year’s elections. That means wall-to-wall and screen-to-screen news coverage and political ads. For a break from it all, let’s head across the pond and take in some fictional British political programs.
Here are eleven (actually twelve when you include a sequel) politically-themed British TV programs that range from comedy/satire and drama to thriller, which should be enough to get you through from now until Election Day, if you’re inclined to take a telly breather from American politics.
The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard — How many times have you thought to yourself that you could do better than the politicians in office? That’s the premise of this miniseries with Jane Horrocks (Absolutely Fabulous, Little Voice) as Ros Pritchard, a supermarket manager who, fed up with political shenanigans and citizen indifference, runs for Parliament and is elected Prime Minister. But with no experience, political and media pressures, and a husband with a scandal to hide, will her commitment to honest and common sense politics be enough to make a real and lasting difference?
The cast includes Steven Mackintosh (Luther) as husband Ian, Carey Mulligan (Bleak House) as elder daughter Emily, Janet McTeer (Sense and Sensibility) as Deputy Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer Catherine Walker, and Geraldine James (The Last Enemy) as Home Secretary Hilary Rees-Benson. Real-life former Prime Minister Tony Blair, former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Roy Hattersley, and House of Lords member David Steel have cameo appearances.
Streaming availability: None at this time
DVD rental: Netflix
The Ambassador — Pauline Collins (Upstairs, Downstairs, Shirley Valentine) stars in the title role as Harriet Smith, Britain’s Ambassador to Ireland. She’s new to the post and up for the challenge, which is what she gets on both the work and home fronts.
In embassy matters, she must deal with posturing from Irish Minister Kevin Flaherty (Owen Roe, Single-Handed), pleas from British citizens in Ireland, plus instances of sabotage, corruption, and even murder, in doing her duty for the interests of Great Britain while also doing what is just for Ireland. With the help of MI-6 Attaché and assistant John Stone (Denis Lawson, Criminal Justice), Smith manages to do what’s right, even when her elder son, Nate (Tim Matthews, Band of Brothers), thinks all she does is wrong. (He’s angry and blames his mother for the death of his father.)
Streaming availability: None at this time
DVD rental: Netflix
(See also “Lesser-Known Female Characters In British TV Worth Watching.”)
First Among Equals — This BAFTA-nominated miniseries, based on the bestselling book by Jeffrey Archer, follows the professional and personal lives of four newly-elected MPs of Parliament in the 1960s: Tory Simon Kerslake (James Faulkner, Devices and Desires), Conservative Charles Seymour (Jeremy Child, Judge John Deed), and Labour members Raymond Gould (Tom Wilkinson, Martin Chuzzlewit) and Andrew Fraser (David Robb, Downton Abbey). Bitter rivalries, shifting political landscapes, personal peccadilloes, family turmoil, and more play into the their successes and defeats.
Streaming availability: Amazon Instant Video, Netflix
DVD rental: Netflix
GBH — Set during the Thatcher era, this miniseries stars Robert Lindsay (My Family) as Michael Murray, a newly-elected, left-wing, militant-leaning, and corrupt Labour leader of a city council in Northern England, and Michael Palin (Monty Python’s Flying Circus) as Jim Nelson, a moderate member of the Labour party and the headmaster of a school for children with special needs, who unwittingly becomes part of the government’s plot to discredit Murray.
Costars include Julie Walters (Harry Potter) as Mrs. Murray, Dearbhla Molloy (Case Histories) as Laura Nelson, Philip Whitchurch (My Hero) as Franky Murray, Michael’s older brother and chauffeur, and Lindsay Duncan (Rome) as Barbara Douglas, a mysterious stranger with ties to Murray’s past. When it aired in 1991, GBH (Grievous Bodily Harm, or Great British Holiday, as series writer Alan Bleasdale intended) was quite controversial for its portrayal of the Conservative government’s attempts to suppress Labour party leaders, as well as the keen resemblance of the Murray character (for which Lindsay won the 1992 BAFTA TV Best Actor Award) to Derek Hatton, the real-life former Deputy Leader of the Liverpool City Council.
Streaming availability: Amazon Instant Video
DVD rental: None at this time
House of Cards — This first installment of the House of Cards trilogy begins with Francis Urquhart (Ian Richardson, Murder Rooms), the Chief Whip of the House of Commons, not getting the promotion he wanted. So what does the greedy, conniving, and corrupt Urquart do? Amp up the political chicanery in his quest to become Prime Minister, of course, with help from his equally ruthless wife Elizabeth (Diane Fletcher, Aristocrats).
In To Play the King, he is the Prime Minister and has no political rivals to speak of, that is until the Queen’s death and the ascension of former Prince and now King Charles (Michael Kitchen, <Foyle’s War) to the throne. And in The Final Cut, Urquhart does what he must to secure his retirement fund and place in history, but past and present scandals jeopardize both. How does it all end? Watch it and find out. The trilogy is ranked 84th on the BFI TV 100 list.
Streaming availability: Amazon Instant Video, Netflix
DVD rental: Netflix
Party Animals — For a different kind of look inside the world of British politics, this dramedy centers on Parliamentary researchers and aides Danny Foster (Matt Smith, Doctor Who), Scott Foster (Andrew Buchan, Garrow’s Law), Ashika Chandirimani (Shelley Conn, Mistresses), and Kirsty MacKenzie (Andrea Riseborough, Brighton Rock). Times are tough and the stakes are high at Westminster, and each must navigate her/his way through a changing political landscape while minding their own career strategies and personal lives.
Streaming availability: Hulu Plus, Netflix
DVD rental: Netflix
The Politician’s Wife — There’s been plenty of tabloid fodder regarding (male) politicians who’ve had extramarital affairs while in office, and this miniseries shows us how one wife handles it from devastating start to delicious finish. Fictional Tory MP Duncan Matlock (Trevor Eve, Waking the Dead) has been having an affair with a former prostitute (Minnie Driver, The Riches), and the story has become the scandal du jour. Now Flora (Juliet Stevenson, Place of Execution) must put on her stand-by-my-man face and be the supportive wife of a wanker. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and Stevenson is brilliant in her portrayal of one who turns turns the tables and turns misery into personal and political revenge and triumph.
Streaming availability: Netflix
DVD rental: Netflix
(See also “Lesser-Known Female Characters In British TV Worth Watching.”)
State of Play — Speaking of politicians having affairs, here’s another one, but this time the affair isn’t the focus of the miniseries. Murder, conspiracy, and news are. A drug dealer has been killed, and so has the research assistant of MP Stephen Collins (David Morrissey, South Riding). Collin’s former campaign manager-turned-journalist Cal McCaffrey (John Simm, Life On Mars), along with fellow reporters Della Smith (Kelly Macdonald, ) and Dan Foster (James McAvoy, The Last King of Scotland), and Dan’s father, newspaper editor Cameron Foster (Bill Nighy, Page Eight), investigate the deaths and learn that the events are linked through conspiracy and corruption in the upper echelons of British government.
Streaming availability: None at this time
DVD rental: Netflix
The State Within — This is another taut political thriller, one in which conspiracy, terrorism, murder, and more are central to the story. Jason Isaacs (Brotherhood) plays Mark Brydon, the British Ambassador to Washington, who has a crisis of epic proportions on his hands after an American jet bound for London is blown up in midair by British terrorists. The task of repairing fractured relations with the U.S. government is exacerbated amid assassinations, a plot to instigate war with Tyrgyzstan, attempts to save a death row inmate, and more subterfuge on both sides of the pond.
The miniseries costars Sharon Gless (Burn Notice) as U.S. Secretary of Defense Lynne Warner, Ben Daniels (The Virgin Queen) as British Counsellor External Affairs (and MI-6 agent) Nicholas Brocklehurst, and Eva Birthistle (Strike Back) as human rights activist Jane Lavery.
Streaming availability: Amazon Instant Video, Netflix
DVD rental: Netflix
The Thick of It — The most recent television program entrant in the British political satire category, this series has been likened to a hybrid of The Office and Yes, Minister (below).
It opens with Hugh Abbot (Chris Langham, My Family and Other Animals), the bumbling new Minister for Social Affairs, taking office, after which he must walk the fine line between initiating new policies while towing the party line under the ever-watchful eye and profanity-laced mouth of “Enforcer” Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi, Fortysomething) from the Prime Minister’s office. Abbot is replaced by Nicola Murray (Rebecca Front, Inspector Lewis) in Season 3, who is replaced by Peter Mannion (Roger Allam, Endeavour) in the latest season. New Season 4 episodes (the first of which premiered yesterday) are available exclusively on Hulu Plus.
Streaming availability: Amazon Instant Video, Hulu Plus
DVD rental: None at this time
Yes, Minister — Well before the other political satires were even a twinkle in their writers’ eyes, there was the hugely successful Yes, Minister. (Even Margaret Thatcher liked it.)
Airing initially in the early 1980s, the show has been a favorite of PBS affiliate stations’ Britcom schedules for years. It is set in the fictional Department for Administrative Affairs, where MP James Hacker (Paul Eddington, The Camomile Lawn) is in a constant battle with Sir Humphrey Appleby (Nigel Hawthorne, The Madness of King George), the Permanent Secretary, while Hacker’s Private Secretary Bernard Woolley (Derek Fowlds, Chancer) gets caught in the middle.
The sequel series, Yes, Prime Minister, has Hacker elevated to the role of Prime Minister, and that’s about the only thing that’s changed. Both series ranked 9th on the BFI TV 100.
Yes, Minister
Streaming availability: Amazon Instant Video
DVD rental: Netflix
Yes, Prime Minister
Streaming availability: Amazon Instant Video
DVD rental: Netflix
Oh, one last thing. Get out and vote on November 6!
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