The Deal

The Deal is Channel 4's 2003 account of the semi-fictional agreement that was struck between Gordon Brown and Tony Blair in the run-up to the 1997 general election, when the then current leader of the Labour party John Smith unexpectedly passed away and it was left to the two aspiring politicians to decide what route the party (and more importantly the next leader) would take.

Michael Sheen, coining the role of Blair that he would go on to play in Frear's The Queen (and, if rumour is to be believed, a follow-up film called The Special Relationship which will follow Blair's trajectory with Bush), is superb as the simpering ambition-fuelled leader-to-be, manifestly manipulated towards his destiny by his wife and a superb Paul Rhys as an Iago-like Peter Mandelson. Morrissey is equally good as Brown, an understated performance resonating into the present day where Brown is as adrift today as he appears in "the early days" part of this drama.

Frears once again collaborates with Peter Morgan, the adept wordsmith who created such other faux-reality dramas as The Queen, The Last King of Scotland and the forth-coming Frost/Nixon, to believably create a cloak-and-dagger like atmosphere around the halls of Westminster and the eateries of Islington. The original casting of Douglas Henshall and Daniel Craig would have been no-less fascinating, but somehow you can’t see anyone else than the actors involved being so believable in their commendable performances.

Extras: None.

Released on 19th May 2008 by 4DVD.

Written by Simon Cole.