The Trial of Tony Blair

The Trial of Tony Blair
Created by Alistair Beaton
Directed by Simon Cellan Jones
Starring Robert Lindsay
Phoebe Nicholls
Peter Mullan
Alexander Armstrong
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
Production
Running time 72 minutes
Release
Original network More4

The Trial of Tony Blair is a satirical drama recounting hypothetical war crimes proceedings brought against former British Prime Minister Tony Blair 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.

Synopsis

A short time before the 2010 general election, Tony Blair goes on British television and gives a political broadcast, 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 David Cameron's Conservative Party in the polls. However, within hours of Blair's departure, the polling trends dramatically reverse with respondents overwhelmingly supporting Labour's new leader, Gordon Brown. Fearing that his legacy is under severe threat, Blair attempts to sabotage Labour's election campaign, leaking an inflammatory e-mail sent from Brown to Blair wherein the former admits that tax hikes are "inevitable". Blair's plan works, in that Labour wins the election with a majority of just two Members of Parliament, smaller than Blair's majority and with Cameron in a much better position.

Meanwhile, Blair is having problems of his own. Both he and his wife, Cherie, are having financial problems. He is obsessed with his legacy, but neither his former supporters nor the U.S. government — led by President Hillary Clinton — want anything to do with him. Finally, Blair is haunted by disturbing visions of dead Iraqi civilians and British soldiers in the ongoing Iraq War. 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 Blair's problems, the International Criminal Court is looking to bring war crimes charges against British and American leaders in relation to the war. Now that Blair is no longer Prime Minister, he no longer has diplomatic immunity from prosecution, and since George W. Bush cannot be prosecuted due to America's unwillingness to extradite former Presidents, Blair would become the main scapegoat of any such trial. Brown is initially uncertain of what to do, but his hand is ultimately forced when he is informed that several Labour MPs have threatened to defect to the Liberal Democrats — thereby destabilising Labour's minority government — if he fails to act.

The United Nations Security Council votes on the decision to bring Blair to court. Ordinarily, this would not have been an issue as the United Kingdom, a permanent member of the Security Council, would have been able to veto the resolution. Unfortunately for Blair, Brown's assistant orders Britain's Security Council representative to be absent when the resolution is voted on. The resolution passes, with all other Security Council members — including the United States — voting in favour.

Under the stress of events, Blair suffers a recurrence of heart problems, but everybody believes this is play-acting. The programme ends with Tony Blair being flown to his trial in The Hague.

Historical changes for the programme

Several historical events have taken place before the programme begins. These include the following:

Principal characters

Whilst the programme focuses mainly on Tony Blair, people such as David Cameron, 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.

See also

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