newcritics - Latest Comments in Westminster Soap Operas: New Labour, Ancient Power

Re: Westminster Soap Operas: New Labour, Ancient Power

Steve Bowbrick — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 10:07:54 -0000

Have you guys had 'The Thick Of It' yet? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thick_of_It The darkest, nastiest political comedy in history: kind of like The West Wing with humiliation, duplicity, fear and lots of swearing. Absolutely brilliant. It went out in two series and one special over the last two years. Well worth picking up a torrent if you can.

Re: Westminster Soap Operas: New Labour, Ancient Power

M.A. Peel — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:29:04 -0000

Oh House of Cards--that is so worth renting to watch again. Sigh.

I haven't seen The Deal, but I too had a tour of Parliament during my college days. A friend's mother worked for a Scottish MP, and she swooped me through all sorts of rooms to the MP's dining room, where her boss drank me under the table at lunch after an aperitif on the Parliament balcony. Those were still the days when politicians and editors had a liquid lunch. Seems when I finally got "there" myself, everyone was drinking water. Sigh.

Re: Westminster Soap Operas: New Labour, Ancient Power

OutOfContext — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 21:39:28 -0000

I DVR'd The Deal and made the mistake of attempting to watch the beginning when I should have been headed to bed. I watched the whole damn thing, which is amazing as I was so tired and it is so damned low-key, as you suggest. I found that it helped that I knew absolutely nothing about English internal politics, which kept me curious. I don't know how I would have taken it if I knew the story well. It is a good way to get a character sketch of the two leaders; I kind of felt like I had read a really good article when it was over. I found Gordon Brown appealing but towards the end the actors seemed to drift into caricature. A nice movie for a political buff to watch on a grey Sunday afternoon.