The Deal is a 2003 British television film directed by Stephen Frears from a script by Peter Morgan, based in part upon The Rivals by James Naughtie. It stars David Morrissey as Gordon Brown and Michael Sheen as Tony Blair, and depicts the Blair-Brown deal—a well-documented pact that Blair and Brown allegedly 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 pa...
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The Deal is a 2003 British television film directed by Stephen Frears from a script by Peter Morgan, based in part upon The Rivals by James Naughtie. It stars David Morrissey as Gordon Brown and Michael Sheen as Tony Blair, and depicts the Blair-Brown deal—a well-documented pact that Blair and Brown allegedly 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 eventually Prime Minister. The film begins in 1983, as the two men are first elected to Parliament, and concludes in 1994 at the Granita restaurant—the location of the supposed agreement—with a brief epilogue following the leadership contest. It also stars Frank Kelly, Paul Rhys, Matt Blair, Dexter Fletcher and Elizabeth Berrington.
The drama 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...
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