Reg is Reg Keys who stood against Tony Blair in Sedgefield in the 2005 general election. Two years earlier his 20-year-old son, Tom, had been killed in Iraq where insurgents ambushed him and five other military policemen in an abandoned station that was being descaled which meant they had little ammunition and no communications.
Reg Keys started a campaign against the British Prime Minister once an inquiry declared that there was never any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. He saw these lies as a betrayal of his son, other serving soldiers and bereaved families.
Tim Roth plays Reg in an understated manner with anger and resentment underneath. He even stages a mock hanging to get press attention. His constant attempts to talk to Blair ends up getting nowhere as his secretary is always on hand with an excuse.
The drama though although as slow burn had a problem which it did try to address when Reg was campaigning in Sedgefield. As one voter played by Peter Copley tells Reg. I told my son not to buy a motorbike and join the army as both will get you killed, you should had done the same.
As someone who have had relatives who have been in the British army I did wonder why Reg was happy for two of his sons to join the army and later claimed they were sold a lie. The last war where Britain was at risk of invasion was World War 2, all other conflicts were abroad and a few were for rather dubious reasons.
I understand Reg's pain and anger, the drama felt like a polemic which was not entirely convincing. Reg did get his moment on election night as he got to do have his speech and this time Blair had to listen.
The result however was Reg never had a chance against Blair who had a resounding victory with almost 60% of the vote.
Reg Keys started a campaign against the British Prime Minister once an inquiry declared that there was never any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. He saw these lies as a betrayal of his son, other serving soldiers and bereaved families.
Tim Roth plays Reg in an understated manner with anger and resentment underneath. He even stages a mock hanging to get press attention. His constant attempts to talk to Blair ends up getting nowhere as his secretary is always on hand with an excuse.
The drama though although as slow burn had a problem which it did try to address when Reg was campaigning in Sedgefield. As one voter played by Peter Copley tells Reg. I told my son not to buy a motorbike and join the army as both will get you killed, you should had done the same.
As someone who have had relatives who have been in the British army I did wonder why Reg was happy for two of his sons to join the army and later claimed they were sold a lie. The last war where Britain was at risk of invasion was World War 2, all other conflicts were abroad and a few were for rather dubious reasons.
I understand Reg's pain and anger, the drama felt like a polemic which was not entirely convincing. Reg did get his moment on election night as he got to do have his speech and this time Blair had to listen.
The result however was Reg never had a chance against Blair who had a resounding victory with almost 60% of the vote.