On Expenses (TV 2010)

Story describing journalist Heather Brooke's attempts to make British MP's disclose their expenses, under the Freedom of Information Act.

Director:

Simon Cellan Jones

Writer:

Tony Saint (teleplay)

Stars:

Anna Maxwell Martin, Brian Cox, Alex Jennings

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anna Maxwell Martin	...	Heather Brooke
Brian Cox	...	Michael Martin - Speaker of the House of Commons
Alex Jennings	...	Andrew Walker
Tim Pigott-Smith	...	Alan Keen
David Calder	...	Sir Stuart Bell MP
Christopher Good	...	Speaker's Secretary
Neil Pearson	...	Hugh Tomlinson
Jeremy Swift	...	Ben Leapman
Raquel Cassidy	...	House of Commons Counsel
Steve John Shepherd	...	Vaci
Naomi Frederick	...	Personal Assistant
Gerrard McArthur	...	Interior Designer
Delia Lindsay	...	Barbara
Rod Arthur	...	Barry Long MP
David Sibley	...	Council Official

Storyline

In 2005 dogged,recently-married American journalist Heather Brooke,having taken on her local council over better street lighting and won, publishes her book on the Freedom of Information Act, meeting barrister Hugh Tomlinson at the signing. Her next mission is to expose the hidden rights of Members of parliament,especially their expenses,which makes newly-appointed Speaker of the House Michael Martin very nervous. After all he claims for everything he can. Although his legal advisor Andrew Walker tells him this is Heather's right, Martin refuses to permit the disclosure of MP's expenses and, with Hugh as her mouthpiece,Heather forces a tribunal and, whilst not entirely successful, this does lead to the eventual exposure of MP's dishonesty as the story breaks in the press.

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 February 2010 (UK)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Breakfast: Episode dated 23 February 2010 (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Feeling Good"
Nina Simone

User Reviews

Oh wow...I wanted this to go on and on!

There's not a lot more I can add, that hasn't already been said, so this is really just a further endorsement of how good this was, and how you have to go out of your way to see it. An impeccable performance from Brian Cox, who is fast entering, if he hasn't already, that elite group of British actors, such as Burton, Bates, Olivier, Harris, Hopkins, Connery, Guinness, Mills, Howard, and, oh my...there's probably too many to mention, but nonetheless, a fine exclusive bunch of sheer class. Another standout performance, that hasn't been mentioned here so far, from another fine actor that has such great potential, was that of Neil Pearson, who was perfectly cast, and I really do hope we see more of him in high profile drama's like this one. A great biting and edgy script, and some wonderful comedic moments that had me smiling for hours after. This is a real treasure from the BBC, and I'm sure they will win awards for it. I'm also sure they will be rolling this one out from time to time, dusting off the covers, and allowing us to view it once again, if we haven't already added it to our DVD collections. This one will truly never date, and I had no hesitation in rating this a full 10! I too wished this had been longer, but then, maybe I'm just being greedy, and maybe it was perfect at the length it is...smiles