REVIEW: Those who lapped up the dramatisation of the increasingly bizarre behaviour of UK Liberal Party MP Jeremy Thorpe in 2018’s A Very English Scandal should definitely check out BBC UKTV’s latest, true-life-inspired political tale.
Featuring a fabulous turn from In My Father’s Den and Succession star Matthew Macfadyen, the three-part Stonehouse (which debuts on the Sky TV channel tomorrow night, September 18, at 8.35pm) is the Reggie Perrin-esque rise and fall of the Labour member for Wednesbury and Walsall North, who at various times was the Junior Minister for Aviation, Minister of State for Technology and Postmaster General.
However, his ascendence to prominence in the Harold Wilson-led government which held power during the latter half of the 1960s was somewhat tainted by the double life he had been forced to lead ever since a visit to Czechoslovakia in 1959, where he was apparently “honey-trapped”, caught on camera and blackmailed into acting as a spy for the socialist republic.
While more than happy to share secrets, as long as he was being paid, his handlers, at least according to author and screenwriter John Preston’s (the aforementioned Scandal, The Dig) darkly hilarious tale, were somewhat frustrated with the man they’d codenamed “Kolon”.
“John, if I may, the key to this work is the quality of information the operative provides. It has to be at least of passing interest to the other party,” one pithily observes.
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Stonehouse features a fabulous turn from Matthew Macfadyen as the eponymous UK politician.
His lavish spending on a new house, new car and diverse company investments that he increasingly kept secret from his long-suffering wife Barbara (Keeley Hawes) – not to mention what he was spending on “gifts” for his secretary Sheila (Emer Heatley) – did arouse suspicions among friends and colleagues, but it was only when Britain’s counter-intelligence became convinced that there was a spy within the government – and his financial portfolio began to fail – that things began to rapidly unravel for the high-flying Stonehouse.
As the future face of the Labour Party suddenly became yesterday’s man after the Wilson government was defeated in 1970, even Barbara’s assurance that he could mount a comeback a la Winston Churchill can’t lift his spirits. “That took 10 years – and a world war,” he retorts.
Now with the papers hot on his trail, especially around inconsistencies in his business dealings, Stonehouse decides only a truly drastic measure will keep him afloat.
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Keeley Hawes stars opposite Matthew Macfadyen in Stonehouse.
From the Saul Bass-esque titles to Rolfe Kent’s (Up in the Air, Legally Blonde) seemingly Catch Me If You Can-inspired score, director Jon S. Baird (Tetris, Filth) delivers a pitch-perfect period dramedy that showcases the talents of the production and costume designers, as well as the magnificent Macfadyen. Whether it’s hiring a secretary whose ropey shorthand is just one of the issues that make her ill-suited to the task, or coming up with his elaborate scheme to start afresh, the 48-year-old brings the calamitous politician and reluctant spy to life, with convincing and hilarious effect.
While he perhaps lacks the edge of Scandal’s Thrope (so brilliantly portrayed by Hugh Grant), or a compelling nemesis a la Ben Whishaw’s Norman Scott, there’s enough here to keep you gripped, amused – and appalled – by just how Stonehouse thought he could get away with his antics.
Stonehouse debuts on Sky TV’s BBC UKTV at 8.35pm on Monday, September 18.
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