The Trial of Tony Blair
Encyclopedia
The Trial of Tony Blair is a satirical
drama, based around the notion that the former British Prime Minister
, Tony Blair
is to face charges of war crimes by an international tribunal
, following his departure from 10 Downing Street
. Directed by Simon Cellan-Jones
, it was first aired on More4
on 15 January 2007 and repeated on 5 March 2007 and during Blair's last week as Prime Minister on 23 June 2007.
The programme is set in 2010 and stars Robert Lindsay
as Tony Blair
, Phoebe Nicholls
as Cherie Blair
, Peter Mullan
as Gordon Brown
and Alexander Armstrong
as David Cameron
.
, in which he announces his resignation from his position as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
.
The Labour Party
, of which Blair is leader, is trailing the Conservative Party
, led by David Cameron in the polls. However, within hours of Tony Blair's departure, the Conservative lead shrinks dramatically. When Gordon Brown
is elected Labour Party leader, the Labour Party support in the country swells dramatically. Fearing that his "legacy" and his "place in history" are under severe threat, Tony Blair attempts to sabotage the Labour Party efforts to win the General Election, leaking an inflammatory e-mail sent from Brown to Blair in 2006, wherein Brown admits that tax hikes are "inevitable". Blair's plan works, in that Labour win the election with a majority of just two Members of Parliament, smaller than Blair's majority and with David Cameron in a much better position.
Meanwhile, Tony Blair is having problems of his own. He is obsessed with his legacy, but none of the celebrities who fawned over him as Prime Minister will now pay any attention to him. In addition, the American White House
ignores him as well, following George Bush's replacement by Democrat Hillary Clinton. Also, he and his wife are having financial problems. Finally, Blair is haunted by disturbing visions of Iraq
, especially of dead Iraqi civilians, following British and American action in the 2003 Iraq War, which is still ongoing, and in which British soldiers are still dying regularly (and at a seemingly higher rate). His troubled conscience makes him try to convert to Catholicism, though in repeated visits to church he finds himself unable to confess to any sins. Blair is portrayed as being partly in denial that a world which once hailed him as a great leader has largely turned against him.
To compound his problems, the International Criminal Court
is looking to bring war crimes charges against the UK and US leaders in relation to the Iraq War. Now that Tony Blair is no longer Prime Minister, he no longer has diplomatic immunity
from prosecution. The United Nations Security Council
votes on the decision to bring Tony Blair to court. Ordinarily, this would not have been an issue as the UK, a permanent member of the UNSC, would have been able to veto the resolution
. Unfortunately for Blair, under orders from Gordon Brown's assistant, the British UNSC representative is "in the toilet" when the resolution is voted on. The resolution passes, with all other UNSC members (including the United States, under Hillary Clinton, following the "peace path") voting in favour.
Under the stress of events, Blair suffers a recurrence of heart problems, but everybody (including Gordon Brown who visits him in hospital) believes this is play-acting. The programme ends with Tony Blair being flown to his trial in The Hague
.
, Gordon Brown
, Cherie Blair
and Brian Haw
are regularly shown.
Although the Blairs have four children in real life, none of the children appear in the programme.
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
drama, based around the notion that the former British Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
is to face charges of war crimes by an international tribunal
Tribunal
A tribunal in the general sense is any person or institution with the authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title....
, following his departure from 10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as "Number 10", is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is now always the Prime Minister....
. Directed by Simon Cellan-Jones
Simon Cellan-Jones
Simon Cellan-Jones is a Welsh television director and film director, who began his career as a production assistant in the mid-1980s, working on series such as Edge of Darkness. By the late 1980s he had worked his way up to become a director, and he gained credits on some of the most acclaimed...
, it was first aired on More4
More4
More4 is a digital television channel, run by British broadcaster Channel 4, that launched on 10 October 2005. It is carried on Freeview, on satellite broadcasters Freesat and Sky, UK IPTV broadcaster TalkTalk TV and on UK cable network Virgin Media and in the Republic of Ireland cable networks...
on 15 January 2007 and repeated on 5 March 2007 and during Blair's last week as Prime Minister on 23 June 2007.
The programme is set in 2010 and stars Robert Lindsay
Robert Lindsay (actor)
Robert Lindsay is an English actor who is best known for his television work, especially his roles of Wolfie Smith in Citizen Smith, Michael Murray in G.B.H., Captain Sir Edward Pellew in Hornblower and Ben Harper in My Family which has been on television screens since 2000.-Early life:Lindsay was...
as Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, Phoebe Nicholls
Phoebe Nicholls
Phoebe Nicholls is an English film, television, and stage actor. She is known for her roles as Cordelia Flyte in Brideshead Revisited and as the mother of John Merrick in The Elephant Man....
as Cherie Blair
Cherie Blair
Cherie Blair , known professionally as Cherie Booth QC, is a British barrister working in the legal system of England and Wales. She is married to the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair; the couple have three sons and one daughter...
, Peter Mullan
Peter Mullan
Peter Mullan is a Scottish actor and film-maker who has been appearing in films since 1990.-Early life:Mullan, the sixth of eight children, was born in Peterhead in the northeast of Scotland, the son of Patricia, a nurse, and Charles Mullan, a lab technician who worked at Glasgow University. He...
as Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
and Alexander Armstrong
Alexander Armstrong (comedian)
Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong is a British comedian, actor and television presenter.-Early life and career:Armstrong was born in Rothbury, Northumberland, the youngest of three children, to Henry Angus Armstrong and his wife Emma Virginia Peronnet Thompson-McCausland, daughter of Lucius...
as David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
.
Synopsis
A short time before the 2010 general election, Tony Blair goes on British television and gives a political broadcastParty political broadcast
A party political broadcast is a short television or radio broadcast made by a political party....
, in which he announces his resignation from his position as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
.
The Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
, of which Blair is leader, is trailing the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, led by David Cameron in the polls. However, within hours of Tony Blair's departure, the Conservative lead shrinks dramatically. When Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
is elected Labour Party leader, the Labour Party support in the country swells dramatically. Fearing that his "legacy" and his "place in history" are under severe threat, Tony Blair attempts to sabotage the Labour Party efforts to win the General Election, leaking an inflammatory e-mail sent from Brown to Blair in 2006, wherein Brown admits that tax hikes are "inevitable". Blair's plan works, in that Labour win the election with a majority of just two Members of Parliament, smaller than Blair's majority and with David Cameron in a much better position.
Meanwhile, Tony Blair is having problems of his own. He is obsessed with his legacy, but none of the celebrities who fawned over him as Prime Minister will now pay any attention to him. In addition, the American White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
ignores him as well, following George Bush's replacement by Democrat Hillary Clinton. Also, he and his wife are having financial problems. Finally, Blair is haunted by disturbing visions of Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, especially of dead Iraqi civilians, following British and American action in the 2003 Iraq War, which is still ongoing, and in which British soldiers are still dying regularly (and at a seemingly higher rate). His troubled conscience makes him try to convert to Catholicism, though in repeated visits to church he finds himself unable to confess to any sins. Blair is portrayed as being partly in denial that a world which once hailed him as a great leader has largely turned against him.
To compound his problems, the International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...
is looking to bring war crimes charges against the UK and US leaders in relation to the Iraq War. Now that Tony Blair is no longer Prime Minister, he no longer has diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws...
from prosecution. The United Nations Security Council
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
votes on the decision to bring Tony Blair to court. Ordinarily, this would not have been an issue as the UK, a permanent member of the UNSC, would have been able to veto the resolution
United Nations resolution
A United Nations resolution is a formal text adopted by a United Nations body. Although any UN body can issue resolutions, in practice most resolutions are issued by the Security Council or the General Assembly.-Legal status:...
. Unfortunately for Blair, under orders from Gordon Brown's assistant, the British UNSC representative is "in the toilet" when the resolution is voted on. The resolution passes, with all other UNSC members (including the United States, under Hillary Clinton, following the "peace path") voting in favour.
Under the stress of events, Blair suffers a recurrence of heart problems, but everybody (including Gordon Brown who visits him in hospital) believes this is play-acting. The programme ends with Tony Blair being flown to his trial in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
.
Historical changes for the programme
Several historical events have taken place before the programme begins. These include the following:- Tony BlairTony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
staying in power until 2010. He gave advance notice that he would resign as Prime Minister by mid-2007, and refined this to 27 June on 10 May. This is explained at the beginning of the programme, when Tony Blair announces that because of military action by BritishBritish Armed ForcesThe British Armed Forces are the armed forces of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Also known as Her Majesty's Armed Forces and sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown, the British Armed Forces encompasses three professional uniformed services, the Royal Navy, the...
, AmericanMilitary of the United StatesThe United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
and IsraeliIsrael Defense ForcesThe Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
armed forces against IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
followed by suicide bombings in Britain, he needed to remain in power to ensure "stability" in the country. - Hillary Clinton has won the 2008 presidential electionUnited States presidential election, 2008The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
and is now President of the United StatesPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
. To hold onto her position, she agrees to vote in favour of the UN resolution which sees Tony Blair sent to trial. - Arnold SchwarzeneggerArnold SchwarzeneggerArnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
is seen on the photos at the UN building in New York as the latest Secretary-General, following Kofi AnnanKofi AnnanKofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
. Unlike the other two points, this is obviously more for humour than accuracy, as Annan's successor was already known to be Ban Ki-MoonBan Ki-moonBan Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...
.
Principal characters
Whilst the programme focuses mainly on Tony Blair, people such as David CameronDavid Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
, Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
, Cherie Blair
Cherie Blair
Cherie Blair , known professionally as Cherie Booth QC, is a British barrister working in the legal system of England and Wales. She is married to the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair; the couple have three sons and one daughter...
and Brian Haw
Brian Haw
Brian William Haw was an English protester and peace campaigner who lived for almost ten years in a camp in London's Parliament Square from 2001, in a protest against UK and US foreign policy...
are regularly shown.
- David Cameron is shown as a politician believing in nothing and promoting everything - an accusation made against him by numerous newspapers in the UK.
- Gordon Brown is shown as moody and insecure. He is pressured into allowing the UN resolution to pass.
- Cherie Blair is shown, complete with her career as a QCQueen's CounselQueen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
, and her own legal firm. - Brian Haw is a minor character, who takes to sitting outside the Blairs' home in Connaught Square, London, shouting "War Criminal" every time Tony or Cherie appear. His camp grows more expansive over the course of the story, with more accusing banners and placards appearing, perhaps symbolizing the rapidly increasing anxiety and pressure that Blair is under.
Although the Blairs have four children in real life, none of the children appear in the programme.
External links
- The Trial of Tony Blair at Channel4.com/More4
- The Trial of Tony Blair Review at Variety.com