Political Fictions: political drama on screen and on the page

Political Fictions: political drama on screen and on the page

Join Cory Hazlehurst and Mark Pack as they digest some of the best - and some of the worst - depictions of politics in fiction: film, TV and even the occasional book. What political advice is smuggled into these stories and how do they impact on what people think about politicians today?

Episodes

April 2, 2026 51 mins

Mark and Cory talk about political TV for the first time, and there's nowhere better to start than The Thick of It. After rewatching the first series, they talk about which fictional policy proposals ended up becoming reality, why it's important that focus groups thought Keir Starmer was an eagle, and given that Malcolm Tucker keeps screwing everything up perhaps the secret genius behind the British Government is actually Terri Cov...

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Mark as Played
Mark and Cory talk about James Graham's play This House. The hit play, available to stream from the National Theatre, is about party whips trying to prop up a government without a secure House of Commons majority in the 1970s. Mark and Cory marvel at the kipper ties and rotary dial phones, discuss the importance of treating your political opponents with respect, and ponder whether works of art would be improved if they spent more t...
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Mark as Played
March 5, 2026 47 mins

Cory and Mark watch Election, the 1999 film starring Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick. They talk about whether any of the characters in this film are actually likable, the importance of tying string to your pens, and how although so many commentators have compared Reese Witherspoon's character to Hillary Clinton, maybe the best historical parallel in this film is with the Miliband brothers.

You can find the IMDB page for Ele...

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Mark as Played
February 19, 2026 46 mins
In the first episode of Political Fictions, Cory and Mark talk about the 2011 film The Iron Lady. They discuss how the film presents the human side of politicians, what it says about Margaret Thatcher and her legacy, and ponder the appearance of some mysterious milk.   You can view the IMDB page for The Iron Lady here.   Next time we're discussing Election, the 1999 film starring Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick. If you're i...
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Mark as Played

Starting in February 2026, join Cory Hazlehurst and Mark Pack as they digest some of the best - and some of the worst - depictions of politics in fiction: film, TV and even the occasional book.

Subscribe in your favourite podcast app or listen online at https://www.politicalfictionspodcast.com/

Our theme tune is "Monkeys Spinning Monkeys" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) and licensed under the Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0...

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Mark as Played

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