Deadline has announced that Kenneth Branagh is set to portray British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in This Sceptred Isle, a five-part drama series from Sky Atlantic and Michael Winterbottom’s Revolution Films.
As per the trade, the drama “will chart the events surrounding the U.K. Prime Minister, the government, and the country in the face of the first wave of the global pandemic [and] trace the impact on Britain from the pandemic, and the response of scientists, nurses, and doctors as they worked to contain and overcome the virus.”
“The first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic will be remembered forever,” said Winterbottom, who will direct all five episodes and has also co-written the series with Kieron Quirke. “A time when the country came together to battle an invisible enemy. A time when people were more aware than ever of the importance of community. Our series weaves together countless true stories – from Boris Johnson in Number 10 to front line workers around the country – chronicling the efforts of scientists, doctors, care home workers and policy makers to protect us from the virus”.
“Covid-19 has presented once-in-a-generation challenges to the world, and in the UK the resilience and fortitude of the public over the past year has been nothing short of extraordinary,” added Sky UK Managing Director of Content, Zai Bennett. “Portraying NHS staff and key workers on the frontlines of the extraordinary fight, to those in government facing unprecedented challenges; Michael Winterbottom has a clear and compelling vision in telling this remarkable story. The incredible creative talent Fremantle have assembled including the central performance from Kenneth Branagh will make This Sceptred Isle a drama we are proud to be part of telling.”
Branagh was last seen as the villain in Christopher Nolan’s Tenet and next dons the moustache of Hercule Poirot for the Agatha Christie adaptation Death on the Nile, which he also directs.
