PETERBOROUGH

Part of a lifetime

This week heralded the release of some disconcerting photographs of Sir Kenneth Branagh with a blond mop, dressed up to play Boris Johnson in the forthcoming Sky production This England. The series will dramatise the Government’s response to the Covid pandemic.

The role is a career first for Sir Kenneth, below – starring alongside Andrew Buchan as Matt Hancock and Ophelia Lovibond as Carrie Johnson – and he seems to have coveted the role of prime minister since his school days. “History is the very stuff of drama, and Miss Sheppard, our history teacher, loved the theatre in it as much as I did,” he wrote in a 1989 memoir I dusted off this week. “I loved

the personalities – Parnell, Lloyd George, Macdonald, Churchill – and wanted to play them all.”

Perhaps he will draw on his favourite role of that school year, which saw him play the bumbling Mr Toad in Wind in the Willows. The four-time Bafta winner said: “It was one of the most enjoyable parts I’ve ever played”. Becoming typecast is every actor’s nightmare.

Radiant in yellow

The Queen, right, wore a bright sunshine yellow outfit when she opened the Elizabeth Line on Tuesday. Some suggested her dress and hat were chosen to show her support for the Circle Line.

In fact, the colour was deliberately selected because it is the exact opposite to purple on a colour wheel and therefore its complementary colour pairing. Yet more proof that Her Majesty’s dresser, Angela Kelly, thinks of everything.

Justice for London

Despite winning a second term as London mayor, Sadiq Khan has struggled in recent months as he battles the accusation that he is weak on crime. That fact has not gone unnoticed among Tory donors, who are considering backing a candidate in the next mayoral elections in 2024 who has a rather unique record on criminal justice.

I am told that Rob Rinder, better known by his TV alias Judge Rinder, is considering running for City Hall and has secured campaign support from within the party. Rinder, a friend of Benedict Cumberbatch who was pictured last week jiving with the Countess of Wessex, has dispensed justice in almost 700 episodes of his ITV show.

He may have the ear of London’s high society, but can he convince voters he is the man to fix the courts backlog?

Westminster Wagatha

News from the “Wagatha Christie” trial has gripped the nation, with lurid tales of phones being dropped from boats, reality star Gemma Collins “faceplanting” and Peter Andre’s diminutive appendage. But after hearing of the embarrassing private Whatsapp messages of Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy, it seems politicians are no longer taking any chances.

Several, including at least one Cabinet minister, have started using the platform’s “disappearing messages” feature, which erases all traces of a conversation after seven days. It is perfect for leaking mischievous stories to journalists, which is exactly what Rooney alleges Vardy did with tales of her private life from her Instagram account.

Forget the feeble leak inquiry – so loved by civil servants and reviled by the public. Is now the time for Wagatha to meet Westminster?

Stop Braying

MPS are sick of being disturbed by Steve “Stop Brexit” Bray, below, the protester who made his name by heckling politicians and lurking in the background of broadcasters’ shots on College Green. He has now set up a sound system and blasts music for hours each day.

After the Tory MP Michael Fabricant’s plea for action against “professional agitators”, his colleague Sir Charles Walker this week confirmed that police are working with Commons security to record complaints about Bray made by MPS and staff.

“Officers are assessing each occasion that we are aware of, taking into account behaviour; the current law; and the latest guidance on protest from case law,” Sir Charles said.

Although “all options” will be considered, the final decision will rest with the Crown Prosecution Service, and is likely to be some months away. In the meantime, the weekly soundtrack provided by Bray – which includes Italian folk songs, Abba hits and his own bellowing about “liars, cheats and charlatans” – continues undimmed.