David Holmes (Ocean’s Eleven, Out of Sight, Killing Eve, Haywire, Logan Lucky, Analyze That) has recently scored the new Sky limited series This England. The show is co-written and directed by Michael Winterbottom (A Mighty Heart, The Road to Guantanamo) and stars Kenneth Branagh as Boris Johnson and Ophelia Lovibond as Carrie Symonds. The 6-part drama is based on Boris Johnson’s tumultuous first months as Prime Minister and traces the impact on the country of the first wave of the Coronavirus pandemic. Winterbottom is also executive producing the project for Revolution Films, alongside Richard Brown (True Detective, Catch-22) for Passenger. This England is premiering in the UK this Wednesday, September 28 on Sky Atlantic and will also be available to stream on NOW.
Holmes’ other recent projects include Neil Jordan’s Marlowe, which just premiered at the San Sebastian and Zurich Film Festivals and will be released in U.S. theaters on December 2.
Kenneth Branagh should have called “This England” My Londongrad and had Russian puppets playing Larry the Cat and Dilyn The Dog and of course emulating the puppet master Carrie. Why?
First ask yourself why hasn’t MI5 thoroughly investigated Russian interference in British politics? Why should anyone believe Johnson put his country before himself or believe his anti-Russian rhetoric? In 2016 when campaigning for Brexit he accused the EU of provoking Russia’s attacks on Ukraine. Indeed, Johnson/Cummings delivered Brexit beyond Putin’s wildest dreams. Combine Brexit with Trump’s divisiveness and no wonder Putin concluded the USA/EU/UK/NATO club was a crippled anachronism.
There is some curious fact based research published on the web by Bill Fairclough (ex-spook codename JJ and author of The Burlington Files autobiographical espionage series) about Boris Johnson et al called Britain’s Dismal Dossier on Russian Political Infiltration. He puts forward hard evidence to support the facts that many past British Prime Ministers (and one US President) have been compromised by Russian intelligence usually prior to becoming political bigwigs. Dozens of other Tory Party supporters including Cummings, MPs et al with Russian leanings are named in the article. Any of them, Trump, Johnson and Cummings included, could have been unwittingly manipulated. After all, flattery is a narcissist’s best friend.
In fact, Kenneth Branagh could have made hay while the sun shines with this research. Google TheBurlingtonFiles and in the News Section select the article for July 21, 2021. You might also want to read Bill Fairclough’s biographical novel Beyond Enkription – it’s a must read for espionage cognoscente.
Avidly watching This England. The thread soundtrack that runs in the background sounds very similar to INXS ‘The Stairs’?