Political Fictions: political drama on screen and on the page

Brexit: The Uncivil War (#10)

To mark ten years since the Brexit referendum, Cory and Mark talk about James Graham's TV movie starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Brexit: The Uncivil War. They talk about the ability of Mark Gatiss to chew scenery without actually being on screen, how the story the film tells of how Leave won has aged rather badly, and Cory has a rant about the most shambolic doorknocking encounter he's ever seen.  You can view Brexit: The Uncivil War on IMDb here [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8425058/?ref_=tturv_ov_bk]. Next time, we're watching the 2006 Iranian film Offside [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499537/]. Cory’s email newsletter is  [https://coryhazlehurst.substack.com/]Paperback Rioter [https://coryhazlehurst.substack.com/] and Mark has a family of email newsletters [https://libdemnewswire.com/]. Our theme tune is “Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com [https://incompetech.com/]) and licensed under the Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/]).

Yes, Minister: Party Games (#9)

Mark and Cory talk about the O.G. of British Political Sitcoms: Yes, Minister. They marvel at the genial Machiavellian genius that is Jim Hacker exploiting the British sausage to win a leadership contest, explain why this episode is a good guide for would-be leadership contenders, and lay it on a bit thick with their marmalade discussion. If you're in the UK then you can watch this on BBC iPlayer [https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0074qsm/yes-minister-series-3-8-party-games]. Next time, we're watching Brexit: The Uncivil War. Cory’s email newsletter is  [https://coryhazlehurst.substack.com/]Paperback Rioter [https://coryhazlehurst.substack.com/] and Mark has a family of email newsletters [https://libdemnewswire.com/]. Our theme tune is “Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com [https://incompetech.com/]) and licensed under the Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/]).

King's Game (#8)

In a scheduling choice completely unconnected to any contemporary political events, Mark and Cory talk about the 2004 Danish film full of leadership plotting, King's Game. This is a proper conspiracy thriller, where even the children are Machiavellian geniuses. They question whether it really makes sense for plotters to document their evil schemes in such meticulous detail, bemoan the bad use of political polling in the film and debate how useful this film is as a how-to guide for potential leadership candidates. You can view the IMDb page for King's Game here [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0378215/]. Next time we're talking about the Yes, Minister special "Party Games". If you're in the UK then you can watch this on BBC iplayer [https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0074qsm/yes-minister-series-3-8-party-games]. Cory’s email newsletter is  [https://coryhazlehurst.substack.com/]Paperback Rioter [https://coryhazlehurst.substack.com/] and Mark has a family of email newsletters [https://libdemnewswire.com/]. Our theme tune is “Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com [https://incompetech.com/]) and licensed under the Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/]).

No (#7)

Cory and Mark talk about the political film that's probably most likely to be accidentally bought on Amazon: Pablo Larrain's No. It's about a referendum, and one with several parallels with the Brexit vote. Mark fact checks Cory on a number of occasions, they discuss how successful campaigns always seem to have three word slogans, and chew over the significance of a scene involving baguettes. You can view the IMDb page for No here [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2059255]. Next time, we're discussing the Danish political thriller King's Game [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0378215/]. Cory’s email newsletter is  [https://coryhazlehurst.substack.com/]Paperback Rioter [https://coryhazlehurst.substack.com/] and Mark has a family of email newsletters [https://libdemnewswire.com/]. Our theme tune is “Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com [https://incompetech.com/]) and licensed under the Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/]).

Borgen on Greenland (#6)

Mark and Cory talk about Scandi Ballot Box dramas for the first time. They discuss the Borgen episode in which there are revelations about how Greenland is being used for CIA rendition programmes. They talk about whether photogenic politicians giving inspirational speeches is all that’s needed to solve the world’s problems, the difficulty of writing political fictions with Donald Trump in the White House, and Mark gets even more excited about a door than usual. The Borgen IMDb page is here [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1526318/] and we discuss the fourth episode of series one. Cory’s email newsletter is  [https://coryhazlehurst.substack.com/]Paperback Rioter [https://coryhazlehurst.substack.com/] and Mark has a family of email newsletters [https://libdemnewswire.com/]. Our theme tune is “Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com [https://incompetech.com/]) and licensed under the Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/]). Next time we are talking about Pablo Larrain's film No.