Channel 4's Partygate drama pulls no punches

During the Covid lockdowns, when many of us were unable to see our loved ones, a lot of people took some comfort from the thought that we were all in it together and the sacrifices were for the greater good.

So, when the news began to emerge that the people in charge of making the rules might have also been taking them a lot less seriously than the general public, there was understandable anger.

Now, this docudrama aims to tell the story of the Covid pandemic through the story of what was happening at No 10, where there was karaoke, suitcases of wine, and a very real risk of being ambushed by a cake.

The programme interweaves real-world footage with dramatised scenes inside Number 10, including parties that stretch into the early hours. However, while some of the aides may have been fictionalised, we’re promised that it’s all based on meticulous research and the findings of the Sue Gray report.

According to Channel 4, it will: “juxtapose the revelry inside the nation’s seat of power with the hardship and sacrifice being experienced across the rest of the country.”

If that sounds like something that will get your blood boiling or take you back to a time you would rather forget, then Channel 4 are sweetening the pill a little with an impressive cast, many of whom are no strangers to satire.

Impressionist Jon Culshaw provides the voice of Boris Johnson, and there’s also a role for Hugh Skinner, who plays Prince William in The Windsors.

Meanwhile, Ophelia Lovibond has experience when it comes to appearing in pandemic dramas – she played Carrie Johnson (nee Symonds) in This England, a series which arguably suffered from being filmed before some of the details of what went on in Number 10 began to fully emerge.

Speaking to Vogue about playing the Prime Minister’s other half, Ophelia said: “This England was a unique experience, because I would see Carrie’s face on the front of a newspaper as I was being wigged to play her… That was quite sobering.”

Viewers should also keep their eyes peeled for Phil Daniels, a reunion between Fresh Meat stars Charlotte Ritchie and Kimberly Nixon (Ritchie is also back this week for the fifth and final series of Ghosts), and Georgie Henley, who is probably still best known for playing Lucy in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

No matter how often you may find yourself asking where you know a particular actor from, the main point of Partygate is to remind us of a very strange and testing time for the country, and to perhaps draw your attention to some details that had passed you by as we tried to absorb the scale of the scandal.

Channel 4 suggests the results will be “surprising, enraging and beyond satire”. But it could also leave some viewers questioning how likely the public would be to follow the rules if the government ever tried to introduce similar restriction in the future.