A Very British Coup

Imagine a working class steelworker from a council flat in Sheffield,winning a landslide election victory. On a policy of telling the truth removing all nuclear deterrence and using the money to create jobs improve the NHS and schools. How that would throw the establishment. And here we have the premise for a Very British Coup. This may hay have been made 30 years ago but it is as relevant today as it was then. The late Ray Mcaulley is fantastic in the lead role and the support cast including a young Kieth Allen are all superb. A timeless classic.

Firstly, I should perhaps counter the two negative reviews by pointing out the novel this was based on was written in the early 1980's when a left wing Labour government could have been a distinct possibility. Thatcher was VERY unpopular as Chris Mullin was writing his novel. But, had Tony Benn replaced the ineffectual Michael Foot as Labour leader - again very possible then -he would have been no Harry Perkins. Lacking the fictional characters street smarts and possibly, wider appeal. But this is fiction after all.

By 1988, when this superb drama was made, Thatcher was still there but the adaptation, with now great foresight as current events show, made more of Perkins rise being due to uncovering massive scandal and criminality in big finance.

Mullin himself was a left winger, though he moderated his views with maturity and, as he himself admitted, the changes in the political landscape. As a well respected MP for Labour from 1987 to 2010, he would vote for Tony Blair as leader in 1994 but against the Iraq war in 2003.

Mullin represented a seat in Sunderland in NE England which suffered terribly under the Tories. He was a very effective Parliamentary Select Committee Chairman then had a series of junior ministerial appointments, the often 'Yes Minister' or even 'The Thick Of It' like events he had then are recounted with his trademark humour and self deprecation in his dairies,

The Novel and this adaptation crop up in these widely acclaimed dairies of his life, political and personal, that have been published over the last few years, he kept them from 1994 to 2010.

If there was a 'Mullin' character in the book and TV show, it's 'Fred Thompson' played by Keith Allen, like Mullin when he wrote the book, a campaigning journalist, though as described in the book as rather more physically like the author than in the TV film, not to take anything away from Allen's performance.

I cannot add much more to the mostly positive reviews, that this was shown in 30 countries, won a stack of awards, was cited by Mullin's political allies and opponents years later, is testament to the novel and this excellent, so well made and acted drama.

I will add that though I'm left of centre, I would not have supported Harry Perkins anti nuclear, anti NATO policies. Not that this in anyway reduced my enjoyment of this drama which I've watched and enjoyed many times.

A British Channel 4 mini-series, and one of the finest political thrillers ever made. From the first shot of the opening titles, a molotov cocktail striking the ground in front of Big Ben, this film moves with breathtaking speed and energy, and is guaranteed to push the emotional buttons of any political junkie.

It is sometime in the early 90s, and the Conservatives have been tossed out of power by the Labour Party in a landslide- not led by Tony Blair, but by a charismatic and unapologetically socialist steelworker and union organizer, Harry Perkins. Ray McInally plays the canny, unpretentious Yorkshireman to perfection. The vultures of the upper-class Establishment, the gutter media, the MI5 and the CIA gather to try to undermine Perkins' effective and popular government.

The show is witty, fast-paced, and deliciously paranoid. Acting, dialogue and editing (almost MTV-like compared to the usual sober pace of British TV dramas) come together perfectly. Even if the cold-war setting is a bit outdated and even if you don't share the film's left-wing politics, you will be moved to man the barricades by the time the last chilling image fades.

This film deserves video revival, as a true masterpiece of television craft. Search the web regularly for re-releases- you won't be sorry!

This is an excellent example of the sort of quality production that UK television used to be so capable of turning out. It is quiet, directed and acted without any overblown or cliched soapishness, a well chosen length, paced well, all around just really well made as a piece of storytelling.

What lets it down for me is the narrow party political bias with the 5 advisors listed at the end of the credits including 2 former journalists on Communist newspapers, and a certain Alistair Campbell (could this be the man who, as the unelected Alastair Campbell, was so central and powerful in Blair's governments?). I don't recognise the other 2. Unsurprisingly the script comes across wit a heavy dose of extreme left tropes and dreams, sprinkled here and thee with enough honesty, to act as a propaganda piece.

But it is so obviously a propaganda piece (none of the subtle type of fake news propaganda of today) that this can be tuned out or listened to for what it is. Which is interesting in itself.

I do knock 3 stars off for it though (I would have rated 9 stars otherwise) as it wasn't necessary. OK the recent history of the UK Labour Party at the time included people like Michael Foot but imagine how much better the script would have been if it had been based on an only slightly left of centre Labour Party.

It has also weathered the years very well and with obvious writing changes could have been made recently with either pro or anti Brexit politicians/groups in pace of MacAnaly's extreme left Labour as there are clearly establishment figures on both the "left" and "right" who could be portrayed as the scheming, unelected bad guys.

I'd like to think that this isn't particularly credible, but, allowing for that, this is a well made and gratifying piece of television drama.

It's all built around a towering performance from Ray McAnally, who simply doesn't put a foot wrong. The blend of kindness and steel we see in his portrayal of Harry Perkins is perfect. He is ably supported by a cast of British stalwarts, of whom Keith Allen and Marjorie Yates deserve special mention.

Whatever your politics, it's impossible not to be swept along in the sheer exhilaration of the opening twenty minutes or so as Perkins wins a landslide victory in a General Election and becomes Prime Minister at the head of a radical Labour government. After that, the pleasure comes mainly in some clever scripting and interesting use of Mozart's music.

The conclusion is pleasingly ambiguous. Too many dramas these days wrap up everything neatly, giving us nothing to think about. That's not the case here.

Excellent effort all round then. Rating: 8/10.