The Madness of King Tony
Channel 4's satirical drama The Trial of Tony Blair was shown on More4 last night, and I must admit to being slightly disappointed. As these unfavourable reviews suggest, the satire lacked bite and the comedy was akin to pantomime slapstick.
It impressed on some counts: the subtle visual links between Blair and Saddam Hussain caused much amusement (especially when it dawned on Blair that the medical he was undergoing at the central London police station were introduced by his own legislation); the changing faces of politics on either side of the Atlantic also raised a smile.
That said, Robert Lindsay's performance as Blair wasn't as convincing as his earlier attempts, and many of the other characters were just two-dimensional stereotypes. Portraying Cherie as so anti-Blair didn't help the story's credibility at all.
The main criticism of the programme was that there was too heavy an influence on the comedy. The sad reality is that had it been played straight, everyone would realise just how dire the current world situation really is. The most realistic elements surrounded Blair's nightmarish visions of death and destruction: he was haunted by them in the programme. I'm not entirely sure he is haunted by them in real life, otherwise we wouldn't be in the mess we're in.
It impressed on some counts: the subtle visual links between Blair and Saddam Hussain caused much amusement (especially when it dawned on Blair that the medical he was undergoing at the central London police station were introduced by his own legislation); the changing faces of politics on either side of the Atlantic also raised a smile.
That said, Robert Lindsay's performance as Blair wasn't as convincing as his earlier attempts, and many of the other characters were just two-dimensional stereotypes. Portraying Cherie as so anti-Blair didn't help the story's credibility at all.
The main criticism of the programme was that there was too heavy an influence on the comedy. The sad reality is that had it been played straight, everyone would realise just how dire the current world situation really is. The most realistic elements surrounded Blair's nightmarish visions of death and destruction: he was haunted by them in the programme. I'm not entirely sure he is haunted by them in real life, otherwise we wouldn't be in the mess we're in.
