Channel 4's The Deal on DVD

First broadcast on Channel4 in September 2003, TV drama The Deal is released on DVD from 19th May 2008. The Deal probes the enduring, complex and often tense relationship between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown - an affiliation which has formed one of the most significant political partnerships of recent years.

Directed by Stephen Frears (The Queen, High Fidelity, Dangerous Liaisons), the drama charts the rise of the two men from 1983, when they shared a tiny windowless office on first entering the House of Commons, to their infamous dinner at Granita in 1994 when Brown buried his lifelong ambition to lead the Labour party in favour of supporting the leadership bid of his close friend Blair.

Gordon ran everything past Tony. Tony greenlighted nothing without Gordon's blessing. So why the legendary resentment? Why the enduring rivalry? And why after six and a half years after reaching power did the tension escalate?

The Deal explores how the partnership between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown embodied the contradictions inherent in the modern Labour Party. By uniting, the pair were able to make their party electable for the first time in a generation, only to face one further reality: only one of them could lead it.

The Deal was written by Peter Morgan (The Queen, Longford, The Last King of Scotland) and stars David Morrissey (Captain Corelli's Mandolin, State of Play) as Gordon Brown and Michael Sheen (The Queen, Blood Diamond, Underworld) as Tony Blair. It was the first television drama to portray Tony Blair and Gordon Brown when it aired in September 2003 on Channel4.