Political Fictions: political drama on screen and on the page

To coincide with the men's football World Cup, Mark and Cory talk about the 2006 Iranian film Offside, about a group of Iranian women who disguise themselves as men to sneak into a stadium. Mark gets to deploy some football knowledge, they discuss how the film isn't a great advert for national service and ponder the symbolism of Iranian toilet graffiti. You can view Offside on IMDb here . Next tim...

To mark ten years since the Brexit referendum, Cory and Mark talk about James Graham's TV movie starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Brexit: The Uncivil War. They talk about the ability of Mark Gatiss to chew scenery without actually being on screen, how the story the film tells of how Leave won has aged rather badly, and Cory has a rant about the most shambolic doorknocking encounter he's ever seen.  Y...

Mark and Cory talk about the O.G. of British Political Sitcoms: Yes, Minister. They marvel at the genial Machiavellian genius that is Jim Hacker exploiting the British sausage to win a leadership contest, explain why this episode is a good guide for would-be leadership contenders, and lay it on a bit thick with their marmalade discussion. If you're in the UK then you can watch this on BBC iPlayer...

In a scheduling choice completely unconnected to any contemporary political events, Mark and Cory talk about the 2004 Danish film full of leadership plotting, King's Game. This is a proper conspiracy thriller, where even the children are Machiavellian geniuses. They question whether it really makes sense for plotters to document their evil schemes in such meticulous detail, bemoan the bad use of p...

Cory and Mark talk about the political film that's probably most likely to be accidentally bought on Amazon: Pablo Larrain's No. It's about a referendum, and one with several parallels with the Brexit vote. Mark fact checks Cory on a number of occasions, they discuss how successful campaigns always seem to have three word slogans, and chew over the significance of a scene involving baguettes. You...

Mark and Cory talk about Scandi Ballot Box dramas for the first time. They discuss the Borgen episode in which there are revelations about how Greenland is being used for CIA rendition programmes. They talk about whether photogenic politicians giving inspirational speeches is all that’s needed to solve the world’s problems, the difficulty of writing political fictions with Donald Trump in the Whit...

Mark and Cory talk about All The President’s Men, which was released 50 years ago this month. Mark gets to do his rant about how this film is basically Raiders of the Lost Ark, we ponder whether it’s got the most realistic rubbish of any movie, get very excited about a door and explain why the film presents Queen Elizabeth as launching a bid for absolute rule. You can listen to Slate’s Slow Burn s...

Mark and Cory talk about political TV for the first time, and there's nowhere better to start than The Thick of It. After rewatching the first series, they talk about which fictional policy proposals ended up becoming reality, why it's important that focus groups thought Keir Starmer was an eagle, and given that Malcolm Tucker keeps screwing everything up perhaps the secret genius behind the Briti...

Mark and Cory talk about James Graham's play This House. The hit play, available to stream from the National Theatre , is about party whips trying to prop up a government without a secure House of Commons majority in the 1970s. Mark and Cory marvel at the kipper ties and rotary dial phones, discuss the importance of treating your political opponents with respect, and ponder whether works of art wo...

Cory and Mark watch Election, the 1999 film starring Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick. They talk about whether any of the characters in this film are actually likable, the importance of tying string to your pens, and how although so many commentators have compared Reese Witherspoon's character to Hillary Clinton, maybe the best historical parallel in this film is with the Miliband brothers....

In the first episode of Political Fictions, Cory and Mark talk about the 2011 film The Iron Lady. They discuss how the film presents the human side of politicians, what it says about Margaret Thatcher and her legacy, and ponder the appearance of some mysterious milk.   You can view the IMDb page for The Iron Lady  here .   Next time we're discussing Election, the 1999 film starring Reese Witherspo...

Starting in February 2026, join Cory Hazlehurst and Mark Pack as they digest some of the best - and some of the worst - depictions of politics in fiction: film, TV and even the occasional book. Subscribe in your favourite podcast app or listen online at https://www.politicalfictionspodcast.com/ Our theme tune is "Monkeys Spinning Monkeys" by Kevin MacLeod ( incompetech.com ) and licensed under the...