ITV had a stab at political satire last night with its own take on the infamous affair between Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and his diary secretary Tracey Temple. This comedy-drama took the form of diary recollections narrated by Temple, played with a nudge and a wink by former Shameless sexpot Maxine Peak, which took her from her first days working for the DPM to the end of the affair and her subsequent move away from the office of DPM (although she’s now back working there).
John Henshaw, the landlord from Early Doors, playing a slightly depressed Benny Hill took the role of Prescott and he was suitably coarse with a hint of a heart but with very little sign of the calculated intelligence that Prescott watchers insist the man possesses.
Pippa Haywood of Green Wing fame also added some class to proceedings as Prescott’s chief aide.
But overall it was a bit of an odd product.
Henshaw and Peak were pretty good in the key roles but the show could never decide if it was political satire (there were some nice touches such as Temple putting a gifted kimono into a cupboard at the DPM’s offices where a pair of cowboy boots were also hung up) or a bawdy, knockabout comedy (the script had double entendres that would have shamed Dick Emery or Robin Askwith in their 1970s pomp).
But it was amusing if not hilarious and watchable if not gripping and ITV should have a pat on the back for at least trying something a bit different that had no soap stars or tacky game show element. Probably…
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