A Very British Coup

Buy This Item A Very British Coup  Available from Amazon  $69.99  on 11-4-2008     Yet another astonishing example of the daring and intelligence of British television, <I>A Very British Coup</I> imagines what might have happened if, during the latter days of the cold war, a left-wing prime minister had launched reforms that seriously threatened the interests of the establishment--including the United States. While the initial barrage of political details may confuse American viewers, the complexity soon clears and this miniseries becomes a gripping, dazzling feast of government machinations, media deviousness, and internal power struggles--leading up to murder, blackmail, and extortion. <I>A Very British Coup</I> cunningly displays the tooth and claw of real politics, how personality and policy meld into action and subterfuge. Ray McAnally is fascinating as Prime Minister Harry Perkins, leading a fantastically skilled cast. This superb thriller is based on the book of the same name by Chris Mullin, a former reporter who became himself a member of British Parliament. <I>--Bret Fetzer</I> Reader Reviews British political thrillers are top-notch, and this one is no exception, even if it is a product of the eighties. The Cold War may have evolved into something else, but the problem of media frenzies, covert surveillance and behind the scenes manipulation of events by secret intelligence services continues. In this scenario, when a genuine left-wing Labour candidate becomes Prime Minister, certain Tories, to protect their long-standing aristocratic privilege, pull all sorts of shenanigans to dislodge him, even resorting to blackmail, extortion, and murder. The designers of this series are to be complimented on the sets, which reproduced the interiors of Number 10 Downing Street in a convincing manner (from pictures I have seen). The elegant imagining of the staircase, the cabinet room, and the residence stand in marked contrast to those of "The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard," in which the interiors were so nondescript that I never believed for one minute that I was actually inside one of the most famous residences in London. A drawback of this well-acted series [Among other actors, Clive Merrison is excellent as a slick BBC news presenter who excels in lobbing loaded questions at his guests.] is its rather faded look (although this probably can't be helped since the program was made for television in 1986). The series is also dated by the device that was likely included to give the story a hypothetical aspect: it refers to a king, which, since the Queen is still with us--and long may she reign!--and the Soviet Union has folded, detracts from the verisimilitude of the scenario. The most dated aspect of the film, however, is the use of what now seem like gothic computers with LED TV-like monitors that must hold about 55k of memory (Shades of my old Apple IIe!). One wonders whether the cell phones on "The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard" will seem like dinosaurs in twenty years! To Acorn Media's credit, they have included a lengthy audio interview with the author as well as selected filmographies. As usual, there are no subtitles. Each episode begins with disturbing images of burning debris falling into the Thames. The full significance of these does not impact the viewer until the end credits roll.

A Very British Coup Available from Amazon Price: $69.99 Updated on 11-4-2008.

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