The Queen

The Queen 2006

6.96

The Queen is an intimate behind the scenes glimpse at the interaction between HM Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Tony Blair during their struggle, following the death of Diana, to reach a compromise between what was a private tragedy for the Royal family and the public's demand for an overt display of mourning.

2006

Darkest Hour

Darkest Hour 2017

7.35

In May 1940, the fate of World War II hangs on Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Adolf Hitler or fight on knowing that it could mean the end of the British Empire.

2017

Patriot Games

Patriot Games 1992

6.70

When CIA Analyst Jack Ryan interferes with an IRA assassination, a renegade faction targets Jack and his family as revenge.

1992

The Iron Lady

The Iron Lady 2011

6.36

A look at the life of Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, with a focus on the price she paid for power.

2011

Turks & Caicos

Turks & Caicos 2014

6.30

The second movie in David Hare's Johnny Worricker trilogy. Loose-limbed spy Johnny Worricker, last seen whistleblowing at MI5 in Page Eight, has a new life. He is hiding out in Ray-Bans on the Caribbean islands of the title, eating lobster and calling himself Tom Eliot (he’s a poet at heart). We’re drawn into his world and his predicament when Christopher Walken strolls in as a shadowy American who claims to know Johnny. The encounter forces him into the company of some ambiguous American businessmen who claim to be on the islands for a conference on the global financial crisis. When one of them falls in the sea, their financial PR seems to know more than she's letting on. Worricker soon learns the extent of their shady activities and he must act quickly to survive when links to British prime minister Alec Beasley come to light.

2014

The Queen and Her Prime Ministers

The Queen and Her Prime Ministers 2022

7.00

Queen Elizabeth has worked with 14 Prime Ministers, including holding confidential weekly meetings. It is not known whether she has influenced her Prime Ministers, or what happens when they clash.

2022

The Child in Time

The Child in Time 2018

5.80

A successful writer of children's books, Stephen Lewis is confronted with the unthinkable—he loses his only child, four-year-old Kate, in a supermarket. In one horrifying moment that replays itself over the years that follow, Stephen realises his daughter is gone. Kate's absence sets Stephen and his wife on diverging paths as both struggle with an all-consuming grief.

2018

The Panama Papers

The Panama Papers 2018

6.60

A documentary feature film about the biggest global corruption scandal in history, and the hundreds of journalists who risked their lives to break the story.

2018

The Gathering Storm

The Gathering Storm 2002

6.60

A love story offering an intimate look inside the marriage of Winston and Clementine Churchill during a particularly troubled, though little-known, moment in their lives.

2002

The Special Relationship

The Special Relationship 2010

6.50

A dramatisation that follows Tony Blair's journey from political understudy waiting in the wings of the world arena to accomplished prime minister standing confidently in the spotlight of centre stage. It is a story about relationships, between two powerful men (Blair and Bill Clinton), two powerful couples, and husbands and wives.

2010

Margaret Thatcher: The Iron Lady

Margaret Thatcher: The Iron Lady 2012

7.20

Margaret Thatcher - The Iron Lady is the first major documentary to look back on the development and impact of this remarkable woman, whom commentators of both the political left and right agree changed the face of 20th Century politics forever. Featuring many excerpts from her powerful speeches and insightful contributions from her political supporters and detractors, a portrait emerges of a woman whose strength of conviction eventually becomes the weakness of intransigence.

2012

Thatcher: The Final Days

Thatcher: The Final Days 1991

6.50

The re-creation of events leading up to Margaret Thatcher's defeat as party leader and Britain's Prime Minister.

1991

The Young Mr. Pitt

The Young Mr. Pitt 1942

5.40

This biopic tells the story of the life of Pitt The Younger, who became Prime Minister of Great Britain at the age of 24.

1942

The Gathering Storm

The Gathering Storm 1974

7.00

Winston Churchill's life in the years leading up to World War II.

1974

The Deal

The Deal 2003

6.70

It is approaching an election in the UK when the leader of the Labour party, John Smith, suffers another in a line of heart attacks and dies. With the leadership campaign about to start the clear choice appears to be Gordon Brown, a stanch Scotsman. However Tony Blair is also beginning to appear more likely as he will appeal to Southern voters who would be turned off by Brown. Blair rings Brown to arrange a meeting to discuss which will go for the job. The film flashbacks to the start of their relationship, sharing an office in Westminster on their first seats.

2003

Margaret

Margaret 2009

5.80

A detailed and compelling portrait of one of the most formidable characters in British politics as she faces her final days in power. The year is 1990 and Margaret Thatcher's support within the government is wavering - her hold on the premiership hangs in the balance. Then, long-serving politician Sir Geoffrey Howe resigns over Thatcher's attitude to Europe. His resignation speech sparks a chain of events that leads to the overthrow of Britain's first woman prime minister. This modern dramatic tragedy illustrates the strengths and fatal flaws of this iconic woman more clearly than ever before and reveals how the very aspects of her character that helped her secure power are the ones that ensured her downfall. Drama starring Lindsay Duncan.

2009

Disraeli

Disraeli 1929

5.10

Prime Minister of Great Britain Benjamin Disraeli outwits the subterfuge of the Russians and chicanery at home in order to secure the purchase of the Suez Canal.

1929

The Unmaking of Boris Johnson

The Unmaking of Boris Johnson 2022

1

A deep dive surrounding the scandals and events surrounding Boris Johnson that lead to his resignation

2022

The Deputy

The Deputy 2004

1

The Deputy explores Bob Galway's life and work in the House of Commons and how it impacts on his personal life. Bob's a Deputy PM who is a man of the people - opinionated, principled and pragmatic. Surrounded by inefficient, highly-sexed private secretaries, a beleaguered Bob strives to protect his reputation, his career and his conscience as he tries to outsmart his adversaries in the cut and thrust world of Westminster.

2004

Disraeli

Disraeli 1921

1

The story of British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli and the purchase by England of the Suez Canal.

1921

Yes, Prime Minister

Yes, Prime Minister 1986

8.40

James Hacker MP the Government's bumbling minister for Administrative Affairs is propelled along the corridors of power to the very pinnacle of politics - No. 10. Could this have possibly have been managed by his trusted Permanent Private Secretary, the formidably political Sir Humphrey Appleby who must move to the “Top Job” in Downing Street to support him, together with his much put upon PPS Bernard Wolley. What could possibly go wrong?

1986

House of Cards

House of Cards 1990

8.10

Frustrated at a new moderate Conservative government and deprived of a promotion to a senior position, chief whip Francis Urquhart prepares a meticulous plot to bring down the Prime Minister then to take his place.

1990

The Trial of Christine Keeler

The Trial of Christine Keeler 2019

6.90

The minister, his mistress, and her lover the spy. The story of the woman at the centre of one of the 20th century's biggest scandals – which changed Britain forever.

2019

A Very British Coup

A Very British Coup 1988

7.80

A Very British Coup is a British political thriller series based on the novel by Chris Mullin. It stars Ray McAnally as the newly elected left-wing prime minister Harry Perkins, who soon finds himself up to his neck in conspiracy.

1988

To Play the King

To Play the King 1993

8.10

Francis Urquhart's survival at the top is threatened by the new king's populist agenda.

1993

This England

This England 2022

5.70

Inside the halls of power, Boris Johnson grapples with Covid-19, Brexit, and a controversial personal and political life during his tumultuous first months as Prime Minister.

2022

My Dad's the Prime Minister

My Dad's the Prime Minister 2003

5.50

My Dad's the Prime Minister is a British sitcom written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman. It centres around the life of the Prime Minister, his family and his spin doctor. Its main cast include Robert Bathurst, Joe Prospero, Carla Mendonça, Brian Bovell and Emma Sackville. It was filmed at Bushey in Watford, and extras included students of the nearby Bushey Hall School and Bushey Meads School. Series 1 was shown on BBC 1 as part of CBBC, in April and May 2003. Season 2 was shown later in the evening on BBC 1, in November and December 2004. Series 1 focused more on Dillon, while the second season had greater coverage of the life of the Prime Minister. Series 1 was released on DVD and video, but currently Series 2 remains unreleased.

2003

Number 10

Number 10 1983

5.00

Drama series about the private lives of seven British prime ministers who lived in Number 10 Downing Street between the 1780s and the 1920s: William Pitt the Younger, the Duke of Wellington (Arthur Wellesley), Benjamin Disraeli, William Ewart Gladstone, David Lloyd-George, Herbert Henry Asquith and James Ramsay MacDonald.

1983

Prime Minister’s Questions

Prime Minister’s Questions 1970

1

Questions to the Prime Minister. Held weekly since 1961, Prime Minister's Questions, also referred to as PMQs, gives Members of the British Parliament a chance to question the Prime Minister in the House of Commons. PMQs takes place at midday every Wednesday at the Palace of Westminster when the House of Commons is sitting.

1970

The Blair Years

The Blair Years 2007

1

A unique account of Tony Blair’s ten years as Prime Minister.

2007

Afghanistan: Getting Out

Afghanistan: Getting Out 2022

8.70

Finding a way to end a war. Insiders tell the long and troubled story of a chaotic conflict, revealing the political pressures that helped seal the fate of Afghanistan.

2022

Thatcher & Reagan: A Very Special Relationship

Thatcher & Reagan: A Very Special Relationship 2022

1

Journalist Charles Moore, who wrote Margaret Thatcher's authorised biography, explores her extremely close relationship with US President Ronald Reagan. These two leaders came together in the shadow of the Cold War and nuclear armageddon, and Charles meets the people who were in the room with them as they faced the great challenges of their age.

2022

The Deal

The Deal 1970

1

The Deal is a 2003 British television film directed by Stephen Frears from a script by Peter Morgan, based in part upon The Rivals by James Naughtie. The film stars David Morrissey as Gordon Brown and Michael Sheen as Tony Blair, and depicts the Blair-Brown deal—a well-documented pact that Blair and Brown made whereby Brown would not stand in the 1994 Labour leadership election, so that Blair could have a clear run at becoming leader of the party and Prime Minister. The film begins on 9 June 1983, as Blair and Brown are first elected to Parliament, and concludes in May 1994 at the Granita restaurant—the location of the supposed agreement—with a brief epilogue following the leadership contest. The film was first proposed by Morgan in late 2002 and was taken on by Granada Television for ITV. After Frears agreed to direct, and the cast were signed on, ITV pulled out of it over fears that the political sensitivity could affect its corporate merger. Channel 4 picked up the production and filming was carried out for five weeks in May 2003. The film was broadcast on 28 September 2003, the weekend prior to the Labour Party's annual party conference. The film was critically lauded. Morrissey received considerable praise, winning a Royal Television Society award for playing Brown, and Frears was nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television Movie/Serial by the Directors Guild of Great Britain. The film also nominated for an International Emmy for Best TV Movie/Miniseries. Sheen later reunited with Morgan, Frears, and producer Christine Langan in 2006 to reprise his role as Blair in The Queen, that depicts the death of Princess Diana on 31 August 1997. Sheen reprised his role once again in 2010 in The Special Relationship, that chronicles the "special relationship" between Blair and US President Bill Clinton up until the September 11 attacks, and was broadcast on BBC Two in the United Kingdom and HBO in North America.

1970