Dr. Who‘s David Tennant [pictured in Fright Night] and War Horse‘s Emily Watson are set to play husband and wife in BBC Two’s The Politician’s Husband. Simon Cellan Jones (The Borgias, Boardwalk Empire) directs the three-part serial which began shooting this month in London.
Commenting on The Politician’s Husband, Ben Stephenson, Controller of BBC Drama Commissioning, stated: “Paula Milne returns to BBC Two with a fine piece of drama that manages to combine the political and domestic worlds so elegantly. Starring David Tennant and Emily Watson, it demonstrates the channel’s continued commitment to original British drama.”
“It is said that all power corrupts but the power balance within a marriage can be unspoken and subtle whereas the power games in politics are more overt and manipulatory,” says writer/creator Paula Milne. “The drama explores the personal realm of a political marriage played against the ruthless hubris of Westminster politics – and what can happen when those two realms collide.”
The Plot:
A highly authored, gripping drama The Politician’s Husband follows the shifting balance of power in a political marriage and the ensuing consequences when a wife becomes more successful than her husband.
Senior Cabinet Minister, Aiden Hoynes (Tennant), is happily married to Freya (Watson), a junior minister. When we meet Aiden he is a rising star in Westminster. He went into Parliament driven by idealism, but after his son Noah was diagnosed with Aspergers he allowed himself to be sucked into the power games of Westminster, which provided him with a place to hide.
Freya Gardner (Watson), although equally able, has put the brakes on her own political career in order to provide stability for the family. But even as a Junior Minister, most recognize she is a political star in the making.
Bruce Babbish, played by Ed Stoppard (Upstairs Downstairs, Any Human Heart), is one of Aiden’s closet friends. Bruce chose a political career, not out of ideology but because it suited his Machiavellian nature and lust for power and its trappings. For him the fun lies in the chase, in second guessing his opponents. Bruce is ambitious and even Aiden isn’t immune from his friend’s ruthless streak.
The cast also includes Jack Shepherd (The Nativity, WyCliffe) as Aiden’s Father Joe; Roger Allam (The Queen, The Thick of It) as Chief Whip Marcus Fitzwallace and Oscar Kennedy (Toast, Great Expectations, Hunted) as the Hoynes’ son Noah.
