Kenneth Branagh Channels Boris Johnson in 'This England'

This England, with all six episodes arriving on BritBox to kick off November 2023, is a bit of a trainwreck, just like Boris Johnson’s government which failed the English people so badly in the COVID-19 crisis of 2020. You have to wonder why co-director/co-writer Michael Winterbottom (The Look of Love) made the choices he did; why, with six episodes to play with, he rushed to the finish line and omitted Partygate and the subsequent disgrace of Boris Johnson and the rest.

Queen Elizabeth II: “I hope in years to come, everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge.”

This England is not easy viewing, and warning, there are some wrenching scenes of despair and loss. Why did Winterbottom think now was the time to revisit the worst of COVID? It’s too much, too recent, and, as we are all aware, COVID has not magically disappeared. Under Johnson’s leadership, Britain experienced more COVID deaths than any country in Europe, and suffered the worst financial loss of the G7 nations. 

It is also confusing to watch, jumping from one scenario to another, splicing in news footage from all over the world, and with a huge cast, most of whose names you won’t catch. Names of committees and organizations’s acronyms are flashed onto the screen, as are the COVID data, and it’s clear right from the beginning that the government is covering up the severity of the pandemic. They lied, they cheated, and people died. Whose side is This England on?

Kenneth Branagh is amazingly effective as Prime Minister Boris Johnson; he has the waddle, the terrible hair, and the posh stutter down pat. Now and again, the mask, or rather the latex jowls, slip, and we’re aware that this is impersonation rather than acting. This is a fiction based on real events; we are reminded before each episode. Johnson announces that 2020 will be a year of prosperity, growth, and hope, with Brexit transforming Britain. In addition, Johnson and his girlfriend, Carrie Symonds (Ophelia Lovibond), are expecting a baby and plan to marry. They take off for a holiday in Mustique, which, we find out later, is financed by a Tory donor and gets Boris into trouble.

One of Boris’s most significant habits, which happens multiple times, is that he hands his dog and poop bag (sometimes full) over to the closest staff member of No. 10, a potent symbol of his disregard for responsibility and accountability. He’s eagerly anticipating getting on with writing a book about Shakespeare, from whom he frequently quotes (as well as material from Greek and Roman classical literature).

But there’s a bit of a problem in China, with a mysterious new virus that originated from a wet market. Richard Horton (Noel White), editor of The Lancet, talks online to a Chinese colleague, anxious that the New England Journal of Medicine doesn’t publish the news about the new SARS outbreak first. The theme of competition between different entities as well as individuals continues throughout the series. No one is particularly concerned, not even when the WHO (World Health Organization) makes an official announcement on January 20, 2020.

In this brave new world, Boris has a massive staff at No. 10, which includes many young hopefuls (mostly upper-middle-class men), dominated by the weird, unpleasant Dominic Cumming (Simon Paisley Day). He introduces Ben Gascoigne (Ben Lloyd Hughes), a data whizz-kid, Matt Hancock (Andrew Buchan), Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (he resigned in 2021 for breaking social distancing protocol — he was caught kissing an aide — and is whining about it even to this day), and newcomer Rishi Shunak (Shri Patel) who is appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer.

What becomes clear is that this lot couldn’t organize a booze-up in a brewery, and there’s very little interaction or collegiality between the various committees and departments. The issue of PPE availability is chronic from the beginning because the Conservatives have cut back on medical expenses for years, and now they can no longer take advantage of EU resources. The government sets up a database requesting bids from British PPE suppliers but then doesn’t respond. As the numbers rise, the government lies about the reality of the situation, publishing totally inaccurate data.

They dither about developing and distributing vaccines, closing schools, and lockdowns. Should the army be called in to enforce a lockdown? Playing safe, the government encourages hand washing. Everyone watches in horror as COVID-19 sweeps across Italy and the rest of Europe. Inspired by similar projects abroad, a temporary hospital, the Nightingale Hospital, is built, but only patients on respirators are admitted, and a vast amount of paperwork is required to transfer them. At its peak, the Nightingale housed 54 patients.

The official government slogan is “We’re in charge.” (They’re not). Hospitals are low on ICU equipment now, as well as PPE supplies. Without significant intervention, it’s estimated 80% of the population could become sick. Boris visits patients in a hospital, where he shakes hands like there’s no tomorrow while promoting hand washing, isolation, and school closures. Meanwhile, events like the England vs. Wales rugby match, which Boris attends, continue to take place. His advisors dither around the lockdown issue because focus groups show people hate the idea (and Dominic and his young whizz kids are very keen on focus groups).  

Episodes 4 and 5 take us into the hospitals and into the lives of sick families, and it’s heart-wrenching. Hospitals ban visitors, and patients die alone. The hospital staff use the same phrase every time: “It’s not good.” Worse is the nursing and care home situation, where the lack of PPE is chronic, and many staff members become sick. In a bizarre bit of bureaucracy, the NHS (National Health Service) rules that only symptomatic people in care homes can receive tests, and by then frequently it’s too late. It becomes standard to persuade the elderly to sign DNR (do not resuscitate) releases, just in case. 

Of their own volition, the Council of Mosques decides to close mosques for worship, and the country finally goes into lockdown. Dominic and his team work hard on new slogans and tactics, including 2-meter apart social distancing. Hospital staff struggle with grief and hopelessness. At this point, people with medical backgrounds are hired and trained to help with intubations. More and more elderly patients are offered only palliative care with morphine, and hospitals start allowing family members in to say goodbye. 

Boris, who doesn’t seem to do much other than quote Shakespeare, Latin, and Greek, and/or shout at people, is left alone when Carrie returns to her home outside London, worried about exposing their baby to COVID-19. He attempts to get in touch with his other (grown) children, and it’s clear there is very little closeness between them. Carrie is annoyed that they don’t know about her pregnancy. With No. 10 becoming a petri dish, Boris becomes sick. He experiences bizarre Shakespearian dreams where his adult children and Carrie, holding their baby, stand in marshland, filmed in black and white. He tells Carrie to stay away and is admitted to hospital.

Boris is persuaded to avoid intubation at all costs and is taken to intensive care, where he is put on a CPAP machine to increase oxygen intake. Carrie texts him the ultrasound of their baby. Dominic is also sick, as is his wife, and he takes the family to his parents’ house near Durham, which is illegal under emergency laws. The police take note, and it’s when Dominic lies about it that he gets into trouble, hunted down by major newspapers, the major scandal so far of the administration. A whistleblower calls The Guardian, and the story is pursued by other major newspapers. Weak and sick, Boris is sent home.

Matt Hancock, still banging on about reaching 100,000 tests per day, finds if he includes test kits that are mailed out, he can inflate the numbers and make the goal. By this time, the press is doing the math and investigating human rights violations for elderly patients told to sign DNR releases. The misery continues with a second lockdown later that year, and Boris, channeling the Sheriff of Nottingham, announces that Christmas will be canceled. On the other hand, he does learn to change the baby’s diaper. As a Daily Mail headline of the time read: What Planet Are They On?

All six episodes of This England, if you can stomach it, are on BritBox starting Wednesday, November 1, 2023.