Film
The Deal
Peter Morgan's first crack at the Blair/Brown saga is a compact, talky two-hander dressed up as history. Michael Sheen's Blair is all easy charm; David Morrissey's Brown seethes with entitled fury. It's brisker and scrappier than the films that followed, less about policy than about a handshake pact neither man quite kept. For anyone who finds politics most interesting as psychology.
If you liked this
The Queen2006
Morgan and Sheen reunite for the next chapter, watching Blair face his first real test of power against the monarchy's stubborn silence after Diana's death. Same eye for the private moment behind the public mask.
But If you've had your fill of Sheen playing Blair, this is more of exactly that, just polished to a higher gloss.
Frost/Nixon2008
Morgan's stage play turned Ron Howard film is another two-man duel over power and reputation, this time fought under studio lights instead of in a Westminster kitchen.
But Bigger and glossier than the scrappy telly original, some of that intimacy gets traded for Hollywood polish.
The Special Relationship2010no page yet
The third Morgan/Sheen Blair film follows him into Downing Street and his prickly alliance with Bill Clinton, still fascinated by charm as a political weapon.
But The weakest of the trilogy, it can feel like a victory lap rather than a necessary one.
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Julius Caesar1953no page yet
Same structural DNA as The Deal - a friendship between two ambitious men, one a natural leader, one a brooding schemer, undone by an unwritten promise about who rules and who waits.
The original template for this whole story: two allies bound by ambition, one more magnetic than the other, a pact that cannot survive the smell of real power. Brando's Antony is a masterclass in charm as weapon.
But Shakespeare's verse and 1950s Hollywood grandeur are a long way from The Deal's clipped naturalism; it asks for more patience.
More like this (7)
The Crown2016
Morgan's sprawling follow-up act applies the same trick, turning constitutional history into intimate rivalry drama, just with a much bigger budget and a much longer runway.
But A serious time commitment if all you wanted was another quick, sharp hit like The Deal.
In the Loop2009
Turns the same Westminster corridors into sweaty, swearing farce, a bracing tonal opposite that still nails exactly how power actually gets negotiated.
But If you want your politics played straight and sincere, this relentless satire will feel like a different planet.
House of Cards1990
Ian Richardson's Francis Urquhart is the ancestor of every scheming British politician on screen since, sharper-toothed and more openly villainous than Blair or Brown ever were.
But Over thirty years old now, and the pacing and production values are very much of their moment.
A Very English Scandal2018
Another true British political story told with wit and sympathy, with Hugh Grant proving that establishment charm can curdle into something much darker.
But Messier and campier than the Blair/Brown story, more about scandal and cover-up than policy or power-sharing.
Quiz2020
Same appetite for turning a very British, very real news story into a tight, entertaining drama, with a cast clearly having fun in the process.
But Lower stakes than the Blair/Brown saga - it's a quiz show scandal, not the fate of a government.
The Thick of It2005
If the backroom dealing in The Deal intrigued you, this shows what the machinery looks like from the inside, one profanity-laden crisis at a time.
But Broader, ruder and more farcical, a very different comic register from the tense hush of The Deal.
The Social Network2010
Structurally the same story as The Deal - an origin-story friendship curdling into rivalry over an unspoken agreement about who eventually runs the show.
Swap Westminster for a Harvard dorm room and you get the identical engine: two friends, a founding deal, and the slow, poisonous drift as one man's ambition outpaces the other's patience.
But No British reticence here - it's fast, cynical and thoroughly American, a world away from The Deal's understatement.
People
Cast
David MorrisseyGordon Brown- Matt BlairEd Balls
Michael SheenTony Blair
Dexter FletcherCharlie Whelan
Frank KellyJohn Smith
Stuart McQuarrieScottish MP 1
Ian HanmoreScottish MP 2
Paul RhysPeter Mandelson
Stuart BowmanJournalist 1
Gordon KennedyJohn Brown
Elizabeth BerringtonCherie Blair
David NichollsProduction Asst
Directing
- Stephen FrearsDirector
Writing
- Peter MorganWriter
Production
- Peter MorganAssociate Producer
- Leo DavisCasting
- Andy HarriesExecutive Producer
- Christine LanganProducer