And behind door number 22... a guide to some music of the more traditional kind
Catherine Munn and Jacob Martin list their Top 5 programmes to watch over the festive period.
And behind door number nine... some dazzling musical delights
The complete arts guide, for week 9
Allegedly based on Blair’s spin doctor Alastair Campbell, Malcolm Tucker plays an incredibly foul-mouthed Director of Communications. Tucker easily dominates any scene he appears in, and makes a mockery out of even the most steadfast politicians. His lightning wit and ever more imaginative expletive-laden outbursts leave his colleagues reeling and audiences chuckling.
“You can’t fight in here, this is the war room!” yells Peter Sellers’ president, whose exclamation of sheer confused disbelief perfectly captures the bitter absurdity of Stanley Kubrick’s satiric masterpiece. The dignified put-upon president desperately attempts to avert nuclear Armageddon and deal with drunken premiers, an insane general and an ever more demented German scientist (also played by Sellers, who contrasted with the president makes him look remarkably straight-faced).
In a pre-Obama era, Dennis Palmer was a strong leader in the toughest of times, a proud family man and the president every Democrat could have dreamed of. Overcoming professional obstacles (assassination attempts, nuclear attacks) and personal ones (a manipulative wife and troublesome son) with a calm manner, he earned our respect as a noble man through and through.
Kline plays both fictional president Bill Mitchell and the fictional fictional president Dave Kovic, a presidential impersonator who is persuaded to step into the role of head of state to avoid political turmoil after Mitchell suffers a stroke. All is going swimmingly until the president’s new-found common touch arouses the suspicion and interest of first lady Ellen (Sigourney Weaver). Daft, but fun.
Not your typical politician, the mayor of Springfield indulges in endless vices of corruption, womanising and plain incompetence – he barely displays any kind of knowledge about his constituency. But he’s entertaining as the perfect parody embodiment of everything that’s wrong in modern-day politics.
Every person who saw Love Actually walked away from it wishing that our PM danced around 10 Downing Street to The Pointer Sisters, made witty jokes about his predecessors and sang Christmas carols to us at our doorsteps. But David’s crowning moment was defiantly standing up to big bully US President (Billy Bob Thornton) at a press conference, awakening a spirit of patriotism in all of us.
Battlestar Galactica‘s President Laura Roslin is much more than yet another the leader of the U.S.A.; she’s the President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. After being elevated to the position in the aftermath of the Cylon attack, Roslin, who is also suffering from cancer, becomes a true symbol of stability and strength as the fleet search for the mythical 13th colony of “Earth”.
The cruel dictator of the fictional nation of Latveria Doom has become one of Marvel’s most popular and recognisable villains, a vile ruler whose mere whim is law. However, his quest for greater power has led inevitably to numerous conflicts of the universe’s more heroic inhabitants and temporary loss of his kingdom, but he always manages to reclaim power – even if he has to escape from hell.
Arguably one of the most iconic presidents ever depicted, The West Wing’s Jed Bartlet is representative of the “perfect” US president. A father-like figure to the White House staff, he’s not only incredibly popular; he also possesses great integrity and a real sense of humanity. Sheen plays the character with both warmth and power, making him someone we feel we can trust.
The Rt. Hon. Jim Hacker MP, BSc (Econ), consummate political floater, found himself propelled into the Department for Administrative Affairs and into the hands of the very devious civil servant, Sir Humphrey, and his very pedantic personal secretary, Bernard Woolly. Later, Jim had power thrust upon him in a leadership election and (thanks to the machinations of Sir Humphrey) became Prime Minister, only to have his capricious plans for government reform frustrated at every turn.
No 1 should be Mr. Smith from Mr Smith Goes to Washington.
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