Political Fictions: political drama on screen and on the page

Cory and Mark are joined by Shane Whaley of the Spybrary podcast this week. Shane has picked for us to watch First Among Equals, a prime time ITV political drama from the 1980s. As its episodes total up to 494 minutes, this time we're dipping into the first episode only. Take a listen to see if we - and you - want to watch the rest of the series. The series is based on the book by Jeffrey Archer, once a highly praised and successful novelist whose books were festooned with quotes praising his literary abilities. With the advantage of hindsight, however, we ask if Jeffrey Archer's work is best compared to Anthony Trollope or a McDonald's Filet-o-fish?

Watch the first episode of First Among Equals, and indeed the rest of the series, on YouTube here and second-hand copies of a DVD version are available from the usual places. The original novel is also widely available.

Next week we're interrupting our planned schedule and talking about David Hare's The Absence of War to mark its return to BBC iPlayer. Watch that before next Thursday's episode comes out here.

Cory’s email newsletter is Paperback Rioter and Mark has a family of email newsletters.

Subscribe to our newsletter for some additional bonus content and to get alerted whenever a new episode comes out.

Our theme tune is “Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) and licensed under the Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Mark and Cory are joined by Elinor Taylor for our first book! It is Ellen Wilkinson’s The Division Bell Mystery, a political thriller disguised as a golden age detective story. It is written by one of the country's first female MPs and is full of convincing and vivid political detail about what it is like being a bag carrier for an important minister. The plot's setting is accurate right down to some key architectural detail on which it all hinges. But is it also a good murder mystery? Find out as they discuss ridiculous murder plots, why politicians should beware of the weekend, and what this novel tells us about class, sex and empire.

You can find The Division Bell Mystery on Goodreads here.

Next time, we're watching the first episode of First Among Equals. Watch it on YouTube here.

Cory’s email newsletter is Paperback Rioter and Mark has a family of email newsletters.

Subscribe to our newsletter for some additional bonus content and to get alerted whenever a new episode comes out.

Our theme tune is “Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) and licensed under the Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Aidan Byrne joins Mark and Cory to watch the classic Mr Smith Goes to Washington. It's a film full of shameless emotional manipulation, especially from some of the children in it. They marvel at the performances of Jimmy Stewart, Claude Rains and especially Jean Arthur, wonder if this film has an anti-FDR message, and Mark takes handwriting experts to task.

You can find Aidan on Blue Sky as Plashing Vole.

Next time, we're reading Ellen Wilkinson's The Division Bell Mystery.

You can view the IMDb page for Mr Smith Goes to Washington here.

Cory’s email newsletter is Paperback Rioter and Mark has a family of email newsletters.

Subscribe to our newsletter for some additional bonus content and to get alerted whenever a new episode comes out.

Our theme tune is “Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) and licensed under the Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

To coincide with the men's football World Cup, Mark and Cory talk about the 2006 Iranian film Offside, about a group of Iranian women who disguise themselves as men to sneak into a stadium. Mark gets to deploy some football knowledge, they discuss how the film isn't a great advert for national service and ponder the symbolism of Iranian toilet graffiti.

You can view Offside on IMDb here.

Next time, we're watching the classic Mr Smith Goes To Washington.

Cory’s email newsletter is Paperback Rioter and Mark has a family of email newsletters.

Our theme tune is “Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) and licensed under the Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

To mark ten years since the Brexit referendum, Cory and Mark talk about James Graham's TV movie starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Brexit: The Uncivil War. They talk about the ability of Mark Gatiss to chew scenery without actually being on screen, how the story the film tells of how Leave won has aged rather badly, and Cory has a rant about the most shambolic doorknocking encounter he's ever seen. 

You can view Brexit: The Uncivil War on IMDb here.

Next time, we're watching the 2006 Iranian film Offside.

Cory’s email newsletter is Paperback Rioter and Mark has a family of email newsletters.

Our theme tune is “Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) and licensed under the Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).