The first trailer for This England, a six-part miniseries featuring Kenneth Branagh as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has premiered on Sky Atlantic. The show, which takes place “within the corridors of government and intertwined with stories from throughout the country,” will focus on the response of the Johnson administration to the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. The original testimony of personnel working at 10 Downing Street, the Department of Health, and the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies serves as the basis for the miniseries, which was named This Sceptred Isle.
The miniseries will not only examine how the government responded to the pandemic (the trailer touches on the potential economic fallout of a lockdown and how that might affect the public’s perception of the Johnson administration), but it will also look into the prime minister’s private life and highlight the efforts of the National Health Service. Johnson’s wife Carrie Symonds is portrayed by Ophelia Lovibond, while his former advisor Dominic Cummings, who criticised Johnson’s actions during the epidemic and resigned in 2020, is portrayed by Simon Paisley Day.
Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance as Cummings was the most notable aspect of the TV drama film Brexit: The Uncivil War. It starred Richard Goulding as Johnson, who was played by him. An unnamed voice says in the background that Johnson should “reign him in” as a hint of the brewing tension between Johnson and Cummings in the new teaser. The one-minute teaser concludes with a shot of Johnson in the hospital, suggesting that he has also contracted the illness.
This lovely plot, this earth, this dominion, this England,” he muses at the conclusion. This England may remind some viewers of the Showtime miniseries The Comey Rule, in which Brendan Gleeson portrayed former President Donald Trump, with its tone and philosophy changing Branagh’s appearance so drastically that he is unrecognisable. This is Branagh’s most prominent television role since Wallander, which aired from 2008 to 2016 and consisted of four seasons of three episodes each.
Branagh has mostly focused his acting efforts in the past several years on either his Hercule Poirot movies (Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile) or three consecutive Christopher Nolan pictures (Dunkirk, Tenet, and the impending Oppenheimer). However, he has continued to work as a filmmaker. Branagh’s filmography includes not just the Poirot films, but also the adaptation of Artemis Fowl and the awards favourite Belfast, for which he received an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. On September 21, Sky Atlantic and the streaming service NOW will premiere Michael Winterbottom’s This England, a film he co-wrote and directed.