Partygate TV drama praises Mirror for exposing No.10 Covid lockdown booze-ups
The Daily Mirror’s journalism is given full credit for exposing the Downing Street Partygate scandal in a new docudrama about the relentless lockdown booze-ups at No. 10.
The 90-minute special shows the full extent of the 15 parties which breached the government’s own rules during the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020/21. It combines a narrative featuring real and fictional characters played by actors, interspersed with news footage to remind viewers of the strict “stay home, save lives” mantra which banned or curbed all socialising.
It also contains real-life testimonies from those particularly affected at the time, including some whose loved ones died alone while those working for former Prime Minister Boris Johnson got drunk and danced. Aides are shown sending endless emails inviting each other to leaving dos and other parties - including the infamous birthday drinks for Johnson himself.
The docudrama features real and fictional characters (C4)At the end of the film - when the full hypocrisy of their actions has been leaked - a message on the screen tells viewers: “At the time the 15 lockdown parties took place, few outside Downing Street knew about them. Then, in November 2021, Pippa Crerar of the Daily Mirror broke the first story. And later Paul Brand of ITV News ran the first television reports about the parties.
“Their stories were the catalyst for the Gray Report, and without their reporting the events documented in this film may never have come to light.” The Channel 4 film, to air during the Tory party conference early next month, shows how the drunken bashes were so frequent that on some days there were more than one to choose from.
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The new docudrama reveals the full extent of the 15 parties that took place during lockdown (C4)Impressionist Jon Culshaw plays Johnson while Line of Duty’s Craig Parkinson is former Downing St director of communications Lee Caine, Ghosts’ Charlotte Richie becomes ex-deputy cabinet secretary Helen Macnamara and New Tricks’ Anthony Calf is Mark Sidwell, then head of the civil service. The other real-life characters being portrayed include the PM’s private secretary Martin Reynolds, his wife Carrie Symonds, deputy chief of staff Cleo Watson and head of the Covid task force Kate Josephs.
Called Partygate, the film is largely based on the detailed investigation conducted by civil servant Gray, which ultimately cost Johnson his job. Scenes include the buying of a staff wine fridge, a child’s swing getting broken during a garden party, a karaoke machine being brought in and one aide taking on the role of DJ.
The film will air during the Tory party conference early next month (C4)The action centres on two fictional Special Advisors, Grace Greenwood (Georgie Henley) and Annabel D’Acre (Ophelia Lovibond), who view the rule-breaking within No.10 rather differently. It also depicts a drunken fight, vomiting and the remnants of drug-taking.
Announcing the project earlier this year, Channel 4 said: “This meticulously researched docudrama takes viewers inside No 10 as staff partied while the Covid death toll soared and the country diligently observed lockdown restrictions.” The broadcaster said the programme would contrast “the revelry inside the nation’s seat of power with the hardship and sacrifice experienced across the rest of the country”.
The drama gives credit to the Daily Mirror journalism in uncovering the scandal (C4)It is being produced by a team behind Bafta-winning dramas including Killed by My Debt, The Left Behind, and Murdered by My Father. Johnson, 59, resigned as Prime Minister in July 2022, two months after Gray’s report into Partygate. A year later, in June, he gave up his role as a Conservative MP, claiming he was the victim of a “witch-hunt”.
Partygate, Channel 4, October 3, 9.30pm.
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