Unmistakable features include a paunch, gimlet eye, and sandy hair. However, this is a new facet of Boris Johnson.
The former prime minister will be portrayed by Oscar-winning actor and director Kenneth Branagh in a new TV drama next month, hiding behind a flaxen wig and heavy makeup.
This England, a four-part series that will depict the PM’s first few months in office, has a new teaser out today that features him cuddling up to Carrie on the couch.
And it’s not the first very intimate moment from their relationship that actors Branagh, 61, and Ophelia Lovibond, 36, have portrayed on television.
Just one year separates them from Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, who are 58 and 34, respectively. They are shown on a speedboat while on vacation and strolling through the countryside in images that might be of Buckinghamshire’s Chequers, the prime minister’s gracious getaway.
Along with an emphasis on the primary catastrophe of his term in office—the COVID-19 pandemic—his Brexit-themed electoral triumph in 2019 is also discussed.
In footage made available today, Branagh plays Boris Johnson, who is shown in April 2020 in a hospital bed with the illness and using a mask to breathe. The Pm was in critical care for days before getting well.
At addition, he is seen giving the prime minister’s speeches to the country and holding news conferences in Downing Street.
The miniseries will debut on Sky Atlantic on September 21 according to a statement from Sky. A fortnight after he leaves office, this is the day when Liz Truss, a favourite for the leadership position, has said she would convene an emergency cost-of-living Budget.
The programme, formerly known as This Sceptred Isle, “takes us inside the corridors of power, as Johnson grapples with Covid-19, Brexit, and a contentious personal and political life,” according to the broadcaster.
The report added that “the events in government are interwoven with stories from around the country, from experts and scientists racing against time to understand the virus, to doctors, nurses, and care-home workers on the front lines working tirelessly and heroically to contain and overcome it, and to ordinary people whose lives were thrown into turmoil.”
Under the prosthetics intended to transform him into the old Etonian, Sir Kenneth, who most recently won an Oscar for his role in the coming-of-age film Belfast, is almost unrecognisable.
Ms. Lovibond is well-known for her work on the comedy series Feel Good and the Guardians of the Galaxy. She also had a recurring part in the US drama Elementary as Katheryn “Kitty” Winter.
They are joined by Shri Patel, who plays former chancellor Rishi Sunak, and Andrew Buchan, who plays former health secretary Matt Hancock.
The four-part Sky series has a number of made-up characters and narrative threads.
Viewers will be informed at the beginning of each episode that the series, which is currently being recorded, is not wholly based on facts, the broadcaster announced in March.
Sky made the choice to include a warning after Netflix declined to do so for its popular television series The Crown, which is about the Royal Family, despite the fact that the events it depicted did not really occur.
According to a spokeswoman, the series will highlight the crucial incidents of the Covid-19 pandemic’s initial wave as well as the resiliency and bravery of people who were there.
Every episode will be preceded by an information card stating that it is a drama and that certain speech and situations have been added for dramatic effect, while being extensively researched.
The Sunday Times political editor Tim Shipman was brought in as a consultant by left-wing author Michael Winterbottom for the show, which includes a scenario in which she bites the Prime Minister’s hand while delivering birth.