French pay TV operator Canal+ has picked up a UK drama about the political manoeuvring behind the country’s vote to leave the European Union.
Brexit: The Uncivil War was originally produced by House Productions for Channel 4 in the UK, where it aired last week.
BBC Studios, the commercial and production arm of the UK pubcaster, distributes the 1×90’ drama internationally and has now secured a deal with Canal+, which will air it in the spring.
Wirtten by James Graham (Privacy, This House, Tory Boyz) and directed by Toby Haynes (Sherlock, Five Days, Doctor Who), the drama stars Benedict Cumberbatch as a Vote Leave campaign leader using a data-driven approach to winning the referendum.
Not content to simply let the country digest its monumental decision, a film all about the events of Brexit was released in 2019, forcing viewers to relive it all over again. “Brexit: The Uncivil War” – simply titled “Brexit” in the US – comes to BritBox on October 7th, and depicts the buildup to the vital 2016 referendum, focusing on the activities of the strategists behind the Vote Leave campaign that ultimately led to the UK exiting the European Union.
Benedict Cumberbatch portrays the much-maligned Dominic Cummings, the political strategist behind Vote Leave, who would go onto become Chief Adviser to Boris Johnson until his very public departure at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The television film was nominated for Outstanding Television Movie at the 2019 Emmys, but lost to “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch”. At least Cumberbatch’s committed transformation managed to fool Cummings’ own son.