‘Not a fever dream’: Lord Vaizey reviews 'The Wargame'
L-r: Jim Murphy (foreign secretary), Harriet Harman (home secretary), Nicola Sturgeon (deputy prime minister), Michael Gove (prime minister), Christopher Steele (intelligence chief), Penny Mordaunt (defence secretary), General Sir Richard Barrons (chief of defence staff) and Kim Darroch (national security adviser) | Image: ©Sky UK Ltd
4 min read
This well-made docudrama simulating a Russian attack on UK soil exposes the reality of Britain’s ability to defend herself. As tensions rise it makes for great television – even when Michael Gove is your prime minister
My old friend Michael Gove has at last become prime minister. His deputy is former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon. Alongside him sits Harriet Harman as home secretary. My Times Radio colleague Ayesha Hazarika is head of government communications.
This is not some fever dream from an MRP poll of what a future coalition government might look like, but a war cabinet dreamt up by the boffins from Sky, for its new political docudrama The Wargame. The premise of the four-part series, which culminated in a live episode and is based on an award-winning Sky podcast, is simple. Russia has, to all intents and purposes, declared war on the UK. How will Britain respond?
Michael Gove as prime minister and Jim Murphy as foreign secretary | Image: ©Sky UK Ltd
It is well-made. The action flits between the cabinet office briefing room to the press office, to the war room where the Generals sit, intercut with footage of the various battle scenes as events unfold. Ordinary citizens post their thoughts on social media. In order to evince life-like reactions, the cast were cocooned and fed a bespoke social media feed.
There is an unsympathetic American president, whose secretary of state, Anthony Scaramucci, positively relishes telling the pesky Brits where to get off
Now I bow to no one in my admiration for Lord Gove, and indeed backed him for the Tory leadership, but truth be told Michael can barely steer a car, let alone the ship of state. How will he cope now he has the top job, granted in somewhat trying circumstances? Well, he says “ASAP” a lot, as a kind of substitute for “action this day”. This may be why social media memes are of Michael dressed in leathers as A$AP Rocky, as opposed to ones where he sports a cigar and Homburg.
Nicola Sturgeon (deputy prime minister) holds a press conference with General Sir Richard Barrons (chief of defence staff) to her left | Image: ©Sky UK Ltd
As the crisis becomes serious, he even sends his deputy Nicola Sturgeon out to hold the first press conference, which is decidedly odd. At least she was prepared to front it up rather than high-tail it out of there in the nearest camper van. Some of her peacenik attitude must have affected Michael, as they both blather on about de-escalation even as Britain is under sustained attack. Michael bangs on about defending Western values when all we want is him to defend London from aerial bombardment.
Nevertheless, the drama works. Tensions rise satisfactorily, and key themes surrounding Britain’s ability to defend herself are brought into sharp focus. There is an unsympathetic American president, whose secretary of state, Anthony Scaramucci, positively relishes telling the pesky Brits where to get off during regular Zoom calls. There is a depressed General, who is itching to say “I told you so” as he explains we have a couple of pea shooters with which to hit back.
There is the ever-present hubbub of social media, as disinformation abounds, and members of the public rush to conclusions as the beleaguered war cabinet tries to fill the information gap.
All the cast play their parts admirably and credibly, but oddly Penny Mordaunt turns out to be the one with the most backbone. The biggest problem with the show is the fundamental premise itself: would Russia really start a war out of the blue with Britain? More likely a future war cabinet – and probably not in the too distant future – will be wrestling with how to respond to an incursion in a Baltic state or a deniable but blatant act of sabotage at home. But that would not necessarily make great drama. This, however, is great drama – and makes some valuable political points to boot.
Lord Vaizey is a Conservative peer
The Wargame
Series director: Ben Harding
Executive producers: Nicola Brown and Tom Fulford
Series producers: Ella Taylor and Zehra Yas
Broadcaster: Sky One / NOW
