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| A Very British Coup [1988] (REGION 1) (NTSC) | ![A Very British Coup [1988] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JY7A5BAXL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Mick Jackson
Actors: Ray Mcanally, Alan Macnaughton, Keith Allen, Geoffrey Beevers, Jim Carter
Studio: Acorn Media
Category: DVD
Buy New: £12.83
Buy New/Used from £12.83
Avg. Customer Rating:  (13 reviews)
Sales Rank: 67700
Format: Colour, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 153 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.5
ISBN: 156938617X
UPC: 054961861798
EAN: 9781569386170
ASIN: B00009WNVO
Release Date: August 12, 2003
Theatrical Release Date: 1989
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
Absolutely riveting political drama April 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This TV series was made in the days of Thatchers Britain when the Labour party had a long way to go before it's transformation into New Labour. It dramatizes how many people (notably British business and the press) of the time were scared stiff of what would happen if Labour was elected. Well, we get a raw glimpse of those fears and how the right wing establishment might have responded in this story of Harry Perkins (portrayed brilliantly by Ray MacAnally), a newly elected very left-wing Labour prime minister. His agenda includes unilateral nuclear disarmament and removing U.S. bases from British soil. This leads to an unelected clique of spies, diplomats and businessmen conspiring to wreck Perkin's government and bring it down. It all ends in a very British Coup; no firing squads and no torture.
 Another Day at MI5 November 18, 2007
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
British political thrillers are top-notch, and this one is no exception, even if it is a product of the eighties. The Cold War may have evolved into something else, but the problem of media frenzies, covert surveillance and behind the scenes manipulation of events by secret intelligence services continues. In this scenario, when a genuine left-wing Labour candidate becomes Prime Minister, certain Tories, to protect their long-standing aristocratic privilege, pull all sorts of shenanigans to dislodge him, even resorting to blackmail, extortion, and murder. br /br /A drawback of this well-acted series [Among other actors, Clive Merrison is excellent as a slick BBC news presenter who excels in lobbing loaded questions at his guests.] is its rather faded look (although this probably can't be helped since the program was made for television in 1986). The series is also dated by the device that was likely included to give the story a hypothetical aspect: it refers to a king, which, since the Queen is still with us--and long may she reign!--and the Soviet Union has folded, detracts from the verisimilitude of the scenario. The most dated aspect of the film, however, is the use of what now seem like gothic computers with LED TV-like monitors that must hold about 55k of memory (Shades of my old Apple IIe!). One wonders whether the cell phones on "The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard" will seem like dinosaurs in twenty years! br /br /To Acorn Media's credit, they have included a lengthy audio interview with the author as well as selected filmographies. As usual, there are no subtitles. br /br /Each episode begins with disturbing images of burning debris falling into the Thames. The full significance of these does not impact the viewer until the end credits roll.
Forget the socialism. This is a clever political drama July 15, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is an excellent British television play of political ruthlessness, with clever plotting and a terrific performance by Ray McAnally as a besieged socialist prime minister. br /br /Harry Perkins, "from Sheffield, steel worker and third generation Socialist," is elected Prime Minister. He said what he'd do if he were elected and now he and his cabinet are going to do it. He plans to have American bases moved out of Britain, destroy Britain's nuclear armory, phase out nuclear energy, break the power of the entrenched old boys, break up the newspaper monopolies and reinvest in British jobs. "I once tried middle of the road," Perkins says. "I was knocked down by traffic in both directions." He also plans to run an open government because that's what the people want. "I'm going to tell you the truth. The whole truth," Perkins says to the British people during a telecast. "He can't do that," one of the press lords says. "He's the prime minister." br /br /As the hidden government, which includes senior civil servants, the aristocratic establishment, press lords and the CIA, realizes that Perkins really means what he says, they begin gathering forces to stop him, and nearly succeed. At the climax to the program, Perkins is caught in a set-up by the CIA, Sir Percy Browne (a senior British intelligence head played by Alan MacNaughtan in a performance as nuanced as McAnally's) and a press lord to make him appear corrupt and bought. The solution Sir Percy offers him is resignation on grounds of ill health, with a new prime minister who would be more amenable. That would be a coup, Perkins says. But a very British coup, Sir Percy points out, with no firing squads, no torture. br /br /How Perkins handles this is clever and satisfying. It underlines what he said to a disloyal minister he forced out of office. "You always were a dirty fighter," the minister said bitterly. "Yes," Perkins replied, with a smile. br /br /If you like political one-upmanship, a taut storyline and first-rate acting, you should enjoy this program very much. Ray McAnally is outstanding as the charismatic, devious and honorable Harry Perkins.
A working class hero is something to be October 9, 2005
13 out of 19 found this review helpful
As another reviewer has stated this drama is a little dated but to me it is a fascinating look at the machinations of British government dressed up as a drama for public consumption.pI came upon this DVD by accident recently and recognised the original author as being the current Labour MP for the Sunderland South constituency in the North East of England, Chris Mullin. Although I have never met this man, by reputation he was once a man of the hard left championing unpopular causes such as the appeal of alleged IRA prisoners for a bombing on mainland Britain whom he believed were convicted wrongly. He was also a minister for a while in one of Blair's governments who returned to the backbenches to maintain his independent stance on a number of issues. A soft spoken man, he appears as a thoughtful mild mannered but hard hitting man when he asks questions at Prime Ministers Question Time.pAnd therein lies the rub. As a drama with the Alan Plater script this show has a number of faults, the repetitious use of the only talk show interviewer and the exact same backroom people producing the show each time, some of the characters being a little wooden but a journeyman production nevertheless.pAs an insider's look at the British government machine this is a treasure trove indeed. Watched in conjunction with the MI-5 seasons (known as Spooks in Britain), a good picture from a couple of perspectives, of the governmental machine emerges.pThe central character resembles uncannily, a former MP in a Coventry constituency, Dave Nellist, and the setting of a hard left Labour victory was considered a possiblity in the 1980's after the election of Margaret Thatcher. It seems too that if permission was not given to film in the rooms of Number 10 Downing Street, then the researchers were given very good acccess and reproduced the inside almost exactly as you see when the characters ascend the stairs where the black and white portraits of previous Prime Ministers hang. The incumbent's photograph is only hung up upon their leaving office.pMuch of this mini-series is accurate and true to life, such as as the new Prime Minister's life being almost taken over by the very polite, civil servants, shown to have their own agenda's and not being the impartial technicians pace Keynes. I was very pleased to see scenes set at Chequers, the country retreat or somewhere very similar to it. The machinations of the government and the almost required plotiing and scheming takes place mostly outside of the Houses of Parliament which really does not enter the equation.pAll in all this show reflects a more socialistic view of how government works in practice in Britain. There is a strong current of Anti-Americanism throughout which in my view is not shared by the majority of people in Britain but which accurately reflects the inherent hostility of socialists towards America.pWhile some parts are deliberately extreme there is a clear understanding of the degree of sophistication which is the hallmark of the operations of the British establishment. Clearly influenced by the reins of power the new hardline Prime Minister ends up in the ministerial car and ends up in the Cabinet Room alone much as Margaret Thatcher ended her days there.pThis is the British equivalent of the West Wing packed into three hours. I was so impressed I bought a copy. It should be reuired viewing for students of British politics everywhere and from my point of view it just goes to show that Friedrich Hayek was right when he advised Anthony Fisher who formed the Institute of Economic Affairs, not to go into politics.pAn excellent insider view.
More prophesy than entertainment? April 2, 2005
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
A Very British Coup is one of the landmark political dramas. Gripping from the outset. The election of a truly left-wing government and Prime Minister, who are intent on driving through their left-wing (and popular) agenda, scares the establishment into increasingly desperate machinations to discredit the elected representatives and regain control. What makes this drama so compulsive is the plausibility. I have an uneasy feeling that the situation this film portrays is more prophesy than entertainment.
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