''Last Rights'' is a British

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

political thriller A political thriller is a thriller that is set against the backdrop of a political power struggle; high stakes and suspense are the core of the story. The genre often forces the audiences to consider and understand the importance of politics. Th ...

drama, written by Clive Bradley and directed by Bill Anderson, which first aired on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

. Despite the subject matter, all three episodes were broadcast back-to-back from 9 am on 24 March 2005, as part of a strand of programming aired towards the run-up to the 2005 UK General Election. The series stars

Philip Glenister Philip Haywood Glenister (born 10 February 1963) is an English actor. He is known for his role as DCI Gene Hunt in the BBC series ''Life on Mars'' (2006–2007) and its sequel '' Ashes to Ashes'' (2008–2010). He also played DCI William Bell ...

as John Speers, a spin-doctor and right-hand man to the newly elected prime minister, Richard Wheeler (

Charles Dance Walter Charles Dance (born 10 October 1946) is an English actor. He is known for playing intimidating, authoritarian characters and villains. Dance started his career on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) before appearing in film an ...

), who tries to prevent the leak of potentially sensitive confidential information when his laptop is stolen by a young tearaway. The series also co-starred Ashley Walters,

Iddo Goldberg Iddo Goldberg (; born 5 August 1975) is an Israeli actor, known for his roles as Ben in ''Secret Diary of a Call Girl'' (2007–2011), Freddie Thorne in ''Peaky Blinders (TV series), Peaky Blinders'' (2013), Isaac Walton in ''Salem (TV series), ...

Stephen Graham Stephen Graham (born 3 August 1973) is an English actor and film producer. He began his career in 1990, with early notable roles in '' Snatch'' (2000) and ''Gangs of New York'' (2002), before his breakthrough role as Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne ...

and

Colin McFarlane Colin Andrew Ignatius Peter McFarlane (born 15 September 1961) is a British actor, narrator and voice actor. He is known for his roles in film and television including Gillian B. Loeb in two films of Christopher Nolan's '' The Dark Knight Tril ...

. Aside from a single rerun during the T4 strand of programming in 2006, the series has never been repeated since and has never been released on DVD. Due to the timeslot of broadcast, no viewing figures were recorded for any of the three episodes.

Plot

London, 2009.

Voter apathy In political science, political apathy is a lack of interest or apathy towards politics. This includes voter apathy, information apathy and lack of interest in elections, political events, public meetings, and voting. Voter apathy is a lack of ...

is at an all-time high in the United Kingdom, and a new right-wing political party, The Democratic Consensus Party, led by Richard Wheeler, have just been voted into office. Unbeknownst to the public, the DCP have a sinister hidden agenda to do away with democracy and turn the country into a

police state A police state describes a state whose government institutions exercise an extreme level of control over civil society and liberties. There is typically little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the exec ...

. John Speers panics when just days after being appointed as Wheeler's right-hand-man and spin-doctor, his laptop is stolen by Tariq, a young tearaway. Concerned that the laptop contains potentially sensitive and confidential information, Speers sets about trying to recover it. Meanwhile, Tariq's best friend, Max is concerned when he suddenly disappears without trace. Max finds himself unwittingly drawn into a dangerous world of corruption and political conspiracy as he goes in search of his missing friend. Max subsequently discovers information which threatens to ruin the government's plans, but will he realise its significance in time?

Cast

as Speers *

as Wheeler * Ashley Walters as Max * Kiera Malik as Melissa * Sonnell Dadral as Tariq *

as Sol *

as Steve *

as Don *

Mamta Kaash Mamta Kaash (born 29 March 1964) is an actress and producer who has worked in television, radio and theatre in the UK. Born in India, she is the daughter of a journalist for the BBC World Service. As an actress, she is perhaps best known for her ...

as Shahida *

Raquel Cassidy Raquel Cassidy is an English actress. She played the role of Phyllis Baxter in the television series ''Downton Abbey'' (2013–2015), winning a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. She has re ...

as Nadine *

Francesca Fowler Francesca Fowler (born 1985, Hammersmith, London) is a British actress and screenwriter. She appeared in the 2007 thriller film ''Straightheads'' alongside Gillian Anderson and Danny Dyer, and has also appeared in ''Rome'' HBO, and various BBC TV ...

as Liz * Niall Refoy as Brown * Paul Rattray as Pete * Martin Walsh as Dermot *

Anthony Oseyemi Anthony Oluwakayode Oseyemi (born 17 January 1977) is a British–South African actor of Nigerian descent. He is best known for the roles in the films and teleserials '' Five Fingers for Marseilles'', '' The Congo Murders'' and '' Isidingo''. Ap ...

as Jameel * Olivia Scott as Zara * Jaimi Barbakoff as Sheryl * Jon Snow as Himself

External links

References

{{reflist 2005 British television series debuts 2005 British television series endings 2000s British drama television series Channel 4 television dramas Channel 4 miniseries British thriller television series 2000s British television miniseries British English-language television shows Television shows set in London Television series set in 2009