This article was originally published in The Dundee Courier on 4th April 2015.
Coalition:
Saturday, Channel 4
Paul
Whitelaw
Difficult to believe now, but for a
brief period in 2010 Nick Clegg was perceived, not as a pointless
husk of a man, but as a straight-talking saviour whose promises of
political reform and honesty felt genuinely viable.
Of course, anyone who bought into
this hopeless fantasy now feels utterly foolish and betrayed. That
bitter foreknowledge hung over Coalition like a toxic gas.
A feature-length dramatisation of the
infamous week in May 2010 when a hung parliament forced the coalition
government into being, it depicted the 11th hour
Westminster negotiations as a kind of tragicomic farce in which an
entire nation fell victim to the greed and ineptitude of its flailing
political elite.
Yet despite these broad satirical
leanings, it resisted the temptation to caricature its scheming
protagonists. Instead, particularly with regards to Clegg and Gordon
Brown, it offered a surprisingly sympathetic portrayal of
fundamentally sincere politicians brought down by naivety and hubris.
Writer James Graham reserved most of
his ire for the Tories, who were portrayed throughout as cynically
opportunistic. I particularly enjoyed the curdled depiction of George
Osborne as a heavy-lidded, smirking henchman offering cold pragmatic
advice to his anxious leader. Apparently based on extensive research,
its portrayal of Cameron as a dazed politico forever on the verge of
drowning was grimly plausible.
While commonly dismissed as a hapless
patsy, the Clegg of Coalition was a morally conflicted and
occasionally shrewd man whose flashes of remorse seemed genuine.
However, Graham didn't let him off the hook for reneging on his
flagship promises as soon as he got a whiff of power.
But it was Brown who emerged as the
most intriguing character. The crumpled, socially awkward antithesis
of his open-necked, chummy young rivals, the outgoing PM cut a tragic
figure as he fruitlessly struggled to cling on to power. The scene in
which he clumsily canvassed Clegg as they were about to lay a wreath
on VE Day spoke volumes about his hopeless lack of perspective.
Shepherded by his long-suffering
staff – including Mark Gattis playing Peter Mandelson in the
inimitable style of Mark Gatiss – this gruff, bellowing teddy bear
finally realised he was finished while scuttling through a secret
Commons tunnel on his way to a make-or-break meeting with Clegg. I
never thought I'd see the day where I actually felt sorry for Gordon
Brown.
It was one of many arresting moments
in which Graham's eye for detail reaped dividends. Brown obliviously
squirting ketchup on his shirt basically summed the man up, and I'm
convinced that casting an actor who neither looked nor sounded like
the robotic Clegg was a satirical comment in itself.
Of particular note was the way in
which the political old guard, including a wise, battle-weary Paddy
Ashdown, were depicted almost as bastions of integrity. Unlike their
Blairite descendants, at least they actually believed in something.
While Coalition didn't tell us
much that we didn't already know, it was nevertheless a compelling
drama which, despite being a matter of historical record, managed to
sustain a degree of tension throughout. That's rather impressive.
Though it focused on the self-serving
compromise and betrayal of supposed principles which brought this
government to power, it was also written with a commendably human
touch. Ironically, Clegg in particular was treated with the kind of
fairness and honesty he singularly failed to deliver in reality. I
hope he appreciates the courtesy.
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