The Deal (2003)
September 28, 2003Release Date
Plot.
Where to Watch.
This Movie Is About.
Cast & Crew.
David Morrissey
Gordon Brown
Matt Blair
Ed Balls
Michael Sheen
Tony Blair
Dexter Fletcher
Charlie Whelan
Frank Kelly
John Smith
Stephen Frears
Director
Stuart McQuarrie
Scottish MP 1
Peter Morgan
Writer
Ian Hanmore
Scottish MP 2
Paul Rhys
Peter Mandelson
James Naughtie
Writer
Christine Langan
Producer
Stuart Bowman
Journalist 1
Gordon Kennedy
John Brown
Nathan Larson
Composer
Elizabeth Berrington
Cherie Blair
Alwin H. Küchler
Cinematographer
David Nicholls
Production Asst
Joanna Scanlan
Sue Nye
Jon Snow
Himself
Malcolm Stone
Art Direction
Andy Harries
Executive Producer
Lucia Zucchetti
Editor
Leo Davis
Casting
Media.
Details.
Wiki.
The Deal is a 2003 British television film that depicts the Blair–Brown deal, a well-documented pact that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown made, whereby Brown would not stand in the 1994 Labour leadership election so that Blair could have a clear run at becoming leader of the party and later Prime Minister. The film begins in 1983, as Blair and Brown are first elected to Parliament, and ends in 1994 at the Granita restaurant—the location of the supposed agreement—with a brief epilogue following the leadership contest.
The film was directed by Stephen Frears from a script by Peter Morgan, based in part upon The Rivals by James Naughtie, and stars David Morrissey and Michael Sheen as Brown and Blair respectively. It was first proposed by Morgan in late 2002 and was taken on by Granada Television for ITV. After Frears agreed to direct, and the cast were signed on, ITV pulled out of it over fears that the political sensitivity could affect its corporate merger. Channel 4 picked up the production and filming was carried out for five weeks in May 2003. The film was broadcast on 28 September 2003, the weekend prior to the Labour Party's annual party conference.
The film was critically praised. Morrissey received considerable praise, winning a Royal Television Society award for playing Brown, and Frears was nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television Movie/Serial by the Directors Guild of Great Britain. The film also nominated for an International Emmy for Best TV Movie/Miniseries. In 2006, Sheen later reunited with Morgan, Frears, and producer Christine Langan to reprise his role as Blair in The Queen, which depicts the death of Princess Diana on 31 August 1997. In 2010, Sheen reprised his role once again in The Special Relationship, that chronicles the "special relationship" between Blair and US President Bill Clinton up until the inauguration of Clinton's successor George W. Bush, and was broadcast on BBC Two in the United Kingdom and HBO in North America.