The regime
As crazy as a box of gerbils. Completely loop-da-loopy, like the Red Arrows on acid. Further out of her little skull than Ab Fab’s Patsy after three bottles of Bollinger.
Kate Winslet is outrageous as the germophobic chancellor of a crazy country somewhere in Central Europe, in The Regime (Sky Atlantic).
When she’s not meeting the televised demands for undying love from her sugar beet farmer people, she entertains diplomats with smooth karaoke versions of 1970s pop hits.
She is so afraid of being poisoned by mold spores that her palace is bleached every other week and she is wheeled through the halls in a Perspex sedan chair.
Her only confidante is her father’s corpse, which lies decomposing in an underground mausoleum.
Kate Winslet is outrageous as the germophobic chancellor of a crazy country somewhere in Central Europe, in The Regime (Sky Atlantic)
She is so afraid of being poisoned by mold spores that her palace is bleached every other week and she is wheeled through the halls in a Perspex sedan chair.
Written by Succession’s Will Tracy and directed by Sir Stephen Frears, who earned an Oscar nomination alongside Helen Mirren for The Queen, this is international political satire at maximum volume.
When Chancellor Elena Vernham sits down alone at the table, surrounded by dehumidifiers and wearing an oxygen mask, the parallels with Vladimir Putin’s obsession with disease are inescapable.
But Winslet’s performance is so over-the-top, so silly, that there’s little room for anything else.
The palace assistants and courtiers are all characterless because they have nothing to do but respond to the Chancellor’s crazy whims.
Andrea Riseborough is wasted as the foul-mouthed chief of staff. She’s like Peter Capaldi’s cruel spin doctor in The Thick Of It, without any power, venom or jokes.
Tracy’s script has nothing of Succession. The dialogue never surprises us: it often resembles a press release from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
While visiting a trade delegation, Elena’s husband Nicky (Guillaume Gallienne) explains: ‘We are always happy to work with our NATO friends who share our love of freedom’ – and there is so much of that boring waffle that even the background madness it’s starting to look boring.
When Chancellor Elena Vernham sits down alone at the table, wearing an oxygen mask, the parallels with Vladimir Putin’s obsession with disease are inescapable.
Hugh Grant brings the show to life, as Elena’s deposed predecessor Keplinger – now a prisoner in a luxurious dungeon
Matthias Schoenaerts plays a psychotic bodyguard who falls in love with ‘the Chief’ after being ordered to protect her.
Occasionally it explodes into violence – such as when Elena discovers an intruder at the foot of her bed, a scene clearly inspired by the 1982 burglary of Buckingham Palace by an oddball named Michael Fagan.
All six episodes are available for streaming. You might want to skip ahead to part four, when Hugh Grant brings the show to life, as Elena’s deposed predecessor Keplinger – now a prisoner in a luxurious dungeon.
Keplinger is a mass of contradictions – all charming without honesty, able to see right through Elena, but still obsessed with her. Grant apparently doesn’t feel particularly happy with his own performance. Last month he said: ‘I think it was s***.’
However, Will Tracy has his benchmark. In perhaps the sharpest line of the entire show, Winslet tells Grant, “I was wondering how you’re doing—and then I remembered: As long as there’s a mirror, you’re in business.”