Political Television: Politics on the Small Screen
The most interesting tv shows providing a political education or message, in the absurd opinion of the neoPlatonist. In alphabetical order...
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- StarsRay McAnallyMarjorie YatesGeoffrey BeeversDisaster befalls the UK under a seemingly corrupt Conservative government. The Labour Party is elected - but committed to radical change, under a firmly left-wing leader. That's not supposed to happen. Who will save the traditional rulers?Brilliant and believable depiction of the destabilization and overthrow of a left-wing British government by its own security services.
- StarsAndrew MarrAndrew Marr presents a history of Britain from the end of the Second World War to the start of the third millennium.Good, zingy introduction to the whole subject.
- StarsAndrew MarrKatie HardwickAndrew looks at the first period of the 20th century, in the wake of the death of Queen Victoria - a new dawn for Britain.Andrew Marr strikes again... More zingy stuff.
- DirectorAdam CurtisStarsGeorge BushGeorge W. BushJoanne HerringAn experimental documentary that explores Saudi Arabia's relationship with the U.S. and the role this has played in the war in Afghanistan.Anything by Adam Curtis is compulsory viewing. Here's the first offering.
- StarsAdam CurtisRobert ReichAnn BernaysA documentary about the rise of psychoanalysis as a powerful means of persuasion for both governments and corporations.Here's another Adam Curtis political torpedo.
- DirectorEmma HawleyGareth WilliamsStarsAndrew James DaviesBiography of Prime Minister Harold Wilson with interviews with his family and closest associates.Good evocation of Harold Wilson, the British Labour prime minister in the 1960s, then again from 1974-76. This program celebrated the 30th anniversary of his resignation.
- DirectorIsobel CharmanStarsSamuel WestEdward HeathHarold WilsonThe greatest and most personal political duel of modern times: Edward Heath (Conservative) vs Harold Wilson (Labour), who fought each other for ten years in the British arena. A fine documentary.
- StarsIan RichardsonSusannah HarkerMiles AndersonThe schemes of a ruthlessly ambitious British politician who will stop at nothing to get to the top.Wonderfully morbid and cynical drama with top notch acting. Forget the American remake.
- StarsMichael CockerellJacob Rees-MoggEd MilibandA documentary series which shows the work done by Members of Parliament, both behind the scenes and in public proceedings in the House of Commons.Fascinating look at how Britain's House of Commons (the lower house of Parliament) works. Shows the human face of government.
- StarsJohn SheaE.G. MarshallGeraldine FitzgeraldBiography of the 1961-1963 Presidency of John F. Kennedy with Martin Sheen and Blair Brown. Covers the momentous presidential years and the lives, loves, and triumphs of one of the most controversial families of the twentieth-century.Martin Sheen's spectacular JFK.
- StarsGreg KinnearBarry PepperKatie HolmesThe triumphs and tragedies of the most popular political family in American history.A more modern version of the previous, reflecting more recent sensibilities.
- DirectorColin BarrStarsKenneth CranhamGina McKeeCelia ImrieA political drama about the last days of Harold Wilson's Labour government in the 1970s.Speculative drama on British PM Harold Wilson's mind-boggling resignation "honors' list".
- StarsPhilip MadocLisabeth MilesWilliam ThomasThe story of the brilliant but immensely controversial David Lloyd George, who was the final Liberal Party Prime Minister of the UK.The whole career of Lloyd George brought to life as only the BBC knows how. Perfection. He who does not know who Lloyd George was should be summarily dealt with in a dark Welsh alley.
- StarsAdam CurtisInvestigating the way politicians erase, rewrite and interpret the past to their own interest.Another Adam Curtis piece.
- DirectorJames KentStarsRoger AllamRoger Ashton-GriffithsCharlotte AspreyMargaret Thatcher's final days as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.Merciless portrayal of the Great Maggie's fall from power.
- StarsJames GoldsmithDavid StirlingTiny RowlandThe effects on Britains economic and political power brought by unscrupulous, reckless gamblers from the notorious gambling club in the 60s - the Clermont Club.Adam Curtis again.
- StarsGeorge BallMilton FriedmanTony BennThe consequences of exploiting technological and political ideas without understanding and concern for the outcome.And still more of the Irrepressible Adam Curtis.
- DirectorPaul DwyerStarsJames BolamElizabeth McKechniePeter Hamilton DyerA trenchant, compelling dramatised/documentary which details the events leading up to, and surrounding the resignation of Harold Wilson as Prime Minister in 1976.Well, it's beginning to look like the neoPlatonist is a trifle preoccupied with Harold Wilson...
- StarsGilles KepelWilliam KristolMelvin GoodmanA series of three documentaries about the use of fear for political gain.One of the Irrepressible Adam Curtis' very best.
- StarsJohn SimmDavid MorrisseyKelly MacdonaldJournalists uncover a government conspiracy when a young politician's assistant and mistress is killed.Forget the American remake and watch the original.
- DirectorChris AtkinsStarsDavid MorrisseyAshley JensenRiz AhmedAn examination of the erosion of civil liberties that has gradually taken place in recent years.On why you can't trust politicians to preserve your civil liberties.
- StarsMargaret ThatcherPhilip TibenhamEmma NicholsonA history of the eleven years which Thatcher spent as Prime Minister of the UK.The Great Maggie in her years of power.
- DirectorTim SullivanStarsSylvia SymsBruce AlexanderHenry AyrtonThe events leading up to Margaret Thatcher's resignation as Prime Minister in 1990.Another version of the Great Maggie's toppling from the throne.
- StarsHaydn GwynneSimon JenkinsShirley WilliamsThe history of the people and ideas that formed Thatcherism, charting the events and the effects of Margaret Thatcher's years in power.Britain's Conservative party as revolutionized by the Great Maggie.
- StarsIan RichardsonMichael KitchenKitty AldridgeFrancis Urquhart, the unscrupulous but cunning Conservative Prime Minister, has his survival threatened by a liberal monarch and an upcoming General Election.Second part of the drama. But I haven't listed the third part because - well - I don't like it.
- DirectorSkip KiteStarsTony BennShot over two years, across the UK, following the political icon Tony Benn, as he crisscrossed the country continuing a long tradition of radical socialism.Tribute to one of Britain's most colorful and outspoken Members of Parliament - by the time of his death in 2014, he'd become a national institution.
- StarsJohn NashRobert SpitzerJerome WakefieldThe many ways in which Western notions of personal and political freedom are changing in the 21st Century are explored in this three-part documentary from writer and filmmaker Adam Curtis.Adam Curtis hits out again....
- StarsOliver StoneAlan ShearmanJim WardOliver Stone 's re-examination of under-reported events in American history.Oliver Stone at his hard hitting best.
- DirectorChris MartinJohn PilgerSean CrottyStarsJohn PilgerPhilip AgeeSalvador AllendeVenezuela, Guatemala, Cuba, Chile, Salvador, Bolivia: people's struggle for democracy versus US imperialism in Latin America since the 1950s, backing coups and supporting dictatorships.John Pilger on American foreign policy, with focus on Latin America and then turning to the Middle East.
- DirectorAlan LoweryJohn PilgerStarsJohn PilgerStuart EwenMelvin GoodmanThought-provoking documentary on war propaganda: how governments manipulate the facts and how most media let them get away with it.One of John Pilger's most devastating pieces.
- StarsPaul EddingtonNigel HawthorneDerek FowldsThe Right Honorable James Hacker has landed the plum job of Cabinet Minister to the Department of Administration. At last he is in a position of power and can carry out some long-needed reforms, or so he thinks.Supreme British political satire.
- StarsPaul EddingtonNigel HawthorneDerek FowldsJames Hacker was propelled along the corridors of power to the very pinnacle of politics - Number 10.The sequel to the above: just as side-splitting.