A riveting insight into diplomacy in the Trump era
‘Ihave two little boys and we’re raising them just like Donald Trump,” said US Ambassador Woody Johnson. “Without the hair.” Well, that’s some small consolation. Cameras gained unprecedented access over a nine-month period for Inside the American Embassy (Channel 4) and it showed. This was a riveting insight into the global view of Brexit and diplomacy in the age of Trump.
The first episode of three followed new incumbent Johnson’s first six months in office, including the embassy’s relocation from Grosvenor Square to its $1bn Vauxhall HQ. The fortress-like building was, we were told, “designed to withstand terror attacks, from truck bombs to chemical weapons”. Intended to sound reassuring, this had the opposite effect.
A close pal of Trump, Johnson was rather like the President himself: billionaire businessman rather than career politician, a gung-ho salesman on behalf of his country. Unlike Trump, he was watchful rather than brash, displaying sharp wit and a steely side. I couldn’t help warming to him. He was bullish about Brexit, telling us to stop being defeatist and make the most of it, which seemed sage advice.
We’re so used to fictionalised peeks down the corridors of US power that this occasionally felt more like drama than documentary, with shades of The West Wing, House of Cards and even Veep. Just as staff settled down at their desks, a controversial Trump tweet would send them scurrying into meetings.
Johnson being coached to face the British media was an eye-opening scene. Equally revealing were snippets of his schmoozy chit-chats with UK ministers. Liam Fox was smooth, Chris Grayling jittery, Gavin Williamson cringe-inducingly obsequious. The genial Sir Alan Duncan shared the piece of advice he was given by a senior aide: “If ever you’re backed into a corner, just find a way of blaming it on the French.”
Sir Mark Sedwill, the UK’S National Security Advisor, was seen discussing a potential state visit by “the Prez” and erroneously suggested that “next spring is the 75th anniversary of V-E Day”, which actually falls in 2020. Whoops. Although a little worrying at times – mainly down to our politicians, rather than theirs – this classily produced film was never less than fascinating.
If you don’t like football or sick people, there are slim TV pickings right now. While the World Cup rumbles on, the BBC continued to mark 70 years of the NHS with a hospital-themed double bill. How the NHS Changed Our World (BBC Two) was an enlightening documentary explaining how Cambridgeshire’s pioneering Royal Papworth Hospital led the way in heart transplants.
Cardiac surgeon Sir Terence English recalled how he achieved the seemingly impossible with Britain’s first successful OP in 1979, partly thanks to a freezer box in the back of his Austin Maxi. This paved the way for the likes of Professor John Wallwork, who carried out the world’s first triple heart, lung and liver transplant.
The staff interviews were engrossing but, as is often the case nowadays, producers felt the need to add a celebrity angle. Here it was comedian Eddie Large, who received a new heart at Papworth. My other niggle with this otherwise solid film was its irritatingly hammy presenter, Dr Giles Yeo. All waggling eyebrows and wacky shirts, he was more suited to Cbeebies.
This was followed by stethoscope carrying quiz Britain’ s Best Junior
Doctors (BBC Two), in which two teams from teaching hospitals tackled all manner of medical questions. Former nurse Jo Brand hosted, with Dr Helen Lawal on hand to explain the jargon – like Pointless statistician Richard Osman with a white coat and better bedside manner.
Disappointingly for a prime-time production, this had the rickety feel of a daytime one. It had neither the highbrow “I got one right!” appeal of University Challenge nor its quick-fire pace. It did have one thing in common with the undergraduate institution, though: five out of the six contestants were male.
I just hope viewers weren’t tucking into a TV dinner as questions flew past about fluke worms, menstrual history and testicular torsion.
To make matters worse, the game itself was entirely jeopardy-free, with Leicester Royal Infirmary trouncing its near neighbour Kettering General Hospital. If I’m ever taken ill in the East Midlands, I know where I’d rather get rushed.
Inside the American Embassy How the NHS Changed Our World
Britain’s Best Junior Doctors