The+Deal+-+Group+1A

This is the page for those who presented //The Deal// from group 1A


 * Tomos Davies**

In Chapter 3 of //No Other Way To Tell It: Dramadoc/Docudrama on Television// by Derek Paget, Paget discusses how dramadoc/docudramas set out to do the following:


 * "(a) Re-tell events from national or international histories, either reviewing or celebrating these events;"**

This is indeed the case with //The Deal//, a documentary drama which reconstructs the political events of the early 1980's through to May 1994, where a gentleman's agreement was allegedly made between Labour MP's Tony Blair and Gordon Brown that Brown would not compete with Blair for leadership of the Labour party.


 * "(b) To represent the careers of significant national or international figures, for similar reasons as (a);"**

See above.


 * "(c) To portray issues of concern to national or international communities in order to provoke discussion about them;"**

The actual deal itself has never been officially confirmed, and there have been variations of the story from multiple sources i.e. Cherie Blair wrote in her autobiography that the deal between her husband and Brown occurred in a neighbour's house, not the Islington restaurant which is often suggested and depicted in the docudrama.


 * "(d) To focus on 'ordinary citizens' who have been thrust into the news because of some special experience."**

There may not be an initial relevance here with //The Deal//, but in many ways Brown and Blair are the 'ordinary citizens' in question. The docudrama depicts their friendship, emotions and humanity, and shows that politicians are people too afterall. A scene in particular which focuses on their friendship is when Brown and Blair are debating in a humourous manner over the latter's Scottish identity.


 * "(e) Provoked questions about its form."**

This factor is irrelevant when in reference to //The Deal//, //The Deal// is indefinitely a docudrama - a drama which is based on documented events. As a drama it concentrates more on the characters; their relationship, their development, their personalities. The archive footage and political history which surrounded Gordon Brown and Tony Blair at the time serve as the foundations on which drama conventions are built.

Paget, Derek, //No Other Way To Tell It: Dramadoc/Docudrama on Television,// Manchester University Press, 1998,