Uncanny: Kenneth Branagh as Boris Johnson
(Picture: Phil Fisk/ Sky UK Ltd)Get ready to see Boris Johnson like you’ve never seen him before: that is, played by Kenneth Branagh.
That’s right, the Prime Minister will be front and centre of Sky’s upcoming TV series This England, and judging by the trailer, it’s set to be quite a ride.
Originally titled This Sceptred Isle, the Sky Original drama is written and directed by Michael Winterbottom, and tells the story of how the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic unfolded in the UK, particularly in Downing Street.
According to the synopsis, Johnson’s perspective of the pandemic (and all the controversy that has sparked in the months since) will be “interwoven with stories from around the UK, from the experts and scientists racing against time to understand the virus; the doctors, nurses and care-home workers on the frontline working tirelessly and heroically to contain and overcome it; and ordinary people whose lives were thrown into turmoil.”
Phew. And so to the trailer, where Kenneth Branagh rocks a wig and prosthetics to portray Johnson at the various press conferences he held over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.
At the start, we hear Johnson announcing, “2020 will be a year of prosperity!” before cutting to clips inside Downing Street.
As the trailer progresses, the tone becomes more sinister. Alongside an eerie string rendition of Rule, Britannia!, we hear lines from the pandemic: Johnson urging us to wash our hands, a politician estimating the death toll to be 500,000 deaths.
“That’s the worst case scenario,” Johnson breezily replies.
“I hazard Johnson will come to regret securing the premiership,” another man speculates, before the trailer closes on grim news: that the UK has overtaken Italy to register the highest official death toll.
Stills of This England also show Johnson strolling around a garden with his wife, Carrie Symonds (played by Ophelia Lovibond). Matt Hancock will also be featuring, played by Andrew Buchan.
The series, which will air on Sky Atlantic and NOW, is being produced by Winterbottom’s Revolution Films, and Richard Brown’s Passenger.
It hasn’t been given a release date yet but will be out later this year… so get ready to revisit the pandemic (gulp) and see it in a whole new light.
