Power Monkeys
CHANNEL 4, 10.00PM
Last year Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin (who ever since Drop the Dead Donkey have been serving up comedy so freshly ripped from the headlines it’s still quivering when aired) kept us entertained through the closing stages of the general election with the inspired satirical series Ballot Monkeys. Here they do the same for the EU referendum, taking much the same setting – campaign HQs and battle buses – and weaving comedy round them based on the week’s political developments.
Each show is made and aired in a day and features a cast headed by Jack Dee and Claire Skinner as members of the Conservatives’ pro-EU “Unity Unit”, and Kevin McNally and Andy Nyman aboard the Brexit Roadshow battle bus. Meanwhile Archie Panjabi plays Preeya, an ambitious Conservative who flits between Leave and Remain depending on who she wants to impress. For a change, and even more promising comedy-wise, the show also tests the comic potential of the Trump campaign trail, where Lauren (Amelia Bullmore), a Republican, has been given the job of figuring out how to make the hairspray king more appealing to American women.