The Trial of Tony Blair

This fantasy was utter garbage. I thought Michael Moore cornered the market on ridiculous anti-government movies, but this one was far worse than anything he ever did. No wonder critics of the British media complain it's driven by tabloid journalism. This movie is a left-wing loony's greatest fantasy come to life on the big screen. Anyone even slightly to the right of such rabid Bush-bashers should be appalled it ever got funding to be made. I'm sure it will do well in Syria, Iran, Pakistan, and North Korea, though. It's hard to believe that in these days of insane Muslims blowing up innocent commuters there is anyone in the U.K. who thinks Britain should surrender in the war on terrorism. I guess it's no longer the country I admired for standing alone against the Nazis nearly 70 years ago. All hail Neville Chamberlain and the pathetic policy of appeasement!

The premise of the programme was that after eventually standing down as Prime Minister Tony Blair is called to the Hague to face war crime charges. Ithought this, although slightly far fetched was a great piece of Drama and shows why More4 is one of the best channels to come out of the usual dross of digital channels. Robert Lindsays portrayal of Tony Blair was magnificent and rather than doing an impression of Blair instead gave a great performance. Peter Mullan as Gordon Brown was inspired and it was well into the show before I even realised that it was him playing the part, and although only seen briefly Alistair Armstrong as The image conscious David Cameron was brilliant. The soundtrack also was well devised from Johnny Cash to The Killers. But perhaps the most impressive part of the drama is not the funny elements or to see Blair get his just desserts, rather the idea that the War on Terror has had a deep emotional impact on Blair causing him to have hallucinations and nightmares. All in all a great programme.

As if to prove that Michael Sheen doesn't have a monopoly over the role of Tony Blair, Robert Lindsay gives a magnificently comic performance in this very funny satire set three years in the future when Tony finally decides to stand down. Hilary Clinton is in the White House, George Bush is in rehab, ('he was found comatose on his ranch'. 'I'm surprised anyone noticed'), and the far from charismatic Gordon Brown scrapes through the General Election with a majority of two. It is then that Gordon bows to international pressure and allows Tony to be extradited to the Hague to stand trial for war crimes. Turning on the news immediately after watching this and hearing that one of the serving Prime Minister's closest advisors had been arrested in the 'cash for honours' inquiry only shows how prescient Simon Cellan-Jones' satire really is and how hard it may be to separate fact from fiction.

Alastair Beaton's script is a joy. It's clever, pertinent and side-splittingly funny but it is Lindsay's barn-storming, grand-standing performance as the deluded Blair that lifts this into a class of it's own. He is supported by a wonderfully straight-faced Phoebe Nicholls as Cherie, who chooses to distance herself from her liability of a husband and by Peter Mullan's blank and insipid Gordon Brown. Already a contender for best single programme of the year.

It has been quite a few years since we first expected Blair to go but in 2009/10 he eventually makes the announcement to step aside for Gordon Brown (albeit after a war in Iran and another wave of suicide attacks on London). Deeply worried about his legacy, Blair and his people put a brave face on it and spin for all they are worth but whether it is the protesters, the political isolation or just his own conscience he cannot shake the feeling that the hundreds of thousands of deaths in and associated with Iraq will be all he ever is remembered for. When the UN launches a tribunal into Iraq, PM Brown refuses to veto it and the motion passes – leaving Blair facing prosecution for his decisions in Government.

After several other comedy dramas that gleefully attack the Labour government, this film suggested that it would be nothing more than a liberal fantasy that hits lots of easy targets and forces down Blair down that will always be fictional even if a lot of people seem to wish that it would come true. Sadly this is just what this lazy drama is – and I write this as someone who would gladly see the Blair/Bush actions thrown open to intense public scrutiny with a legal standing behind it. However that does not mean that I chuckled and rubbed my hands with glee as was clearly the hope of the makers of this; and the reason I didn't was down in a big way to the fact that the film never avoids an easy target and rarely backs it up with intelligent material. So we have him heading to trial (we don't see it because we all "know" the outcome), waiting for hours in casualty, having his DNA taken by compulsory order that he introduced and so on – it is so easy and relentless that it is like watching a puppy be kicked at times.

The cast all mug along to this easy beat. Lindsay gives a so-so impression but is an easy mess of nerves and guilt – would be nice to believe it is true but he doesn't ever convince. Nicholls is a shrieking caricature as Booth, while Mullan's Brown and Armstrong's Cameron are just more of the same on a smaller scale. The film does really belong to Lindsay but the material is what lets him down and leaves him doing what I feared he would.

A rather lazy drama then that is like hanging the man on a meat hook and just pummelling him relentlessly while he is defenceless. There is no intelligence or insight here just the hope that the sight of Blair getting "what's coming to him" is enough to draw a big crowd. It drew me this way but it severely disappointed me with all the things it failed to do.

This satire is very amusing and shows how fickle politics and politicians are, however the show most not be taken too seriously. If you keep in mind the insane nature of the story, you may very well enjoy it as much as i did. Robert Lindsay is brilliant as Blair, but then he is brilliant in almost all of his roles, he does however nail Blair when showing him as his grinning media self, the portrayals of Gordon Brown and of David Cameron are also very funny, though the physical likeness of both is questionable the voices and actions are perfect.

The humour is biting throughout but then again so is much of the political comedy in Britain. If you are prepared to take this show at face value i am sure you will thoroughly enjoy it. I cannot wait for the second installment.