Partygate is based on real events, so things that might otherwise be treated as spoilers are unmarked on this page.
"What happens in Number 10, stays in Number 10"
Partygate is a one-off 2023 British TV docudrama, produced by Halcyons Heart Films for Channel 4. It's written and directed by Joseph Bullman and stars Georgie Henley and Ophelia Lovibond, with Jon Culshaw as the voice of Boris Johnson.
Set during the lockdowns of the COVID-19 Pandemic, it follows fictional government employee Grace Greenwood (Henley) through the events of the titular political scandal
, in which the British government bent and broke its own rules against social gatherings to repeatedly hold parties within the building and gardens of 10 Downing Street. A Framing Device shows Grace introducing herself and recounting her story.
At the start of the pandemic, Grace is still new to her job, and becomes friends with the more experienced, more senior Annabel d'Acre (Lovibond). As events progress and Downing Street's work-related gatherings become a series of regular, drunken parties, Grace becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the office culture and the disconnect between the rules Downing Street follows and the laws it imposes on others.
The programme is closely based on the findings of the 2022 "Sue Gray report", the official investigation into "alleged gatherings on government premises during COVID restrictions".
Grace's dramatised experiences are sometimes captioned with real statements from the Sue Gray report or other investigations into the scandal, and are sometimes accompanied by real news footage.
Throughout the narrative, the dramatised situation within Downing Street is regularly contrasted with the rules enforced around the country. Sometimes this is via news footage, or police footage of arrests. However, there are also short interviews with real people who were prosecuted for breaking lockdown rules, as well as with people who obeyed the rules and were unable to attend funerals or visit dying loved ones.
A trailer is available here
Partygate was released October 3, 2023.
Partygate provides examples of the following tropes:
- Artistic Licence Film Production: The framing sequence is a Film Within A Film, in which Grace is being interviewed. A manual clapperboard is used to mark the start of filming. It wouldn't generally be needed for that sort of interview scene — and, if used, would normally be labelled with more than just "Interviews" - "Partygate - "1" - "1".
- Breaking the Fourth Wall:
- The start of the programme shows Grace talking to a camera as part of a Framing Device, and her later Character Narrator voiceover is implied to be retrospective. However, she later turns to the audience and directly addresses the camera during Downing Street sequences.
- When a policeman arrives at one gathering after a fire alarm is accidentally triggered, not only does Grace directly address the camera, but she almost steps out of character to say that the Sue Gray report doesn't confirm what happened next, so we don't actually know.
- When Shelley Williams-Walker is shown DJing a party on the night before Prince Philip's funeral, she turns to the camera to point out that this wasn't officially confirmed, only alleged by newspapers, and that the real Shelley hasn't commented.Shelley: Sue Gray doesn't actually say that I actually DJ'd at this party. Erm, and the real me hasn't commented, but it's been widely reported that they called me "DJ SWW". And the Mirror and the Telegraph said that I was in charge of the music.
- Near the end, Grace and Annabel walk in on a couple having sex on a Downing Street sofa. One of the couple points out that this definitely isn't in the Sue Grey report, but then both of them agree that they did make it into the newspapers and one political blog, so there's little doubt that it happened.
- At the end, one of the fictional Downing Street cleaners talks to the camera about the small plastic bags stained with white powder, which were found in the debris from the parties.
- Broken Pedestal: At the beginning of the story, Grace's voiceover mentions that she'd loved Boris Johnson from the start — he got Brexit done, he was "giving the north the chance to take back control", and he wasn't like other politicians. By the end she's lost all faith in Johnson and his government, can't stand the way Downing Street ignores its own lockdown rules, and is leaking information to the press.
- Character Narrator:
- Grace acts as narrator for the story, initially via a voiceover and a Framing Device that shows her being interviewed at a later date, after she's left Downing Street. Later in the drama, she directly Breaks the Fourth Wall to address the viewer on-camera.
- Some of the minor characters, such as the cleaners and the couple discovered having sex during one party, also act as narrators for individual scenes when Grace isn't present, Breaking the Fourth Wall to address the audience.
- Cluster F-Bomb: Rory and Josh have a drunken argument at the second gathering, which degenerates into repeated use of "fuck".
- Docudrama: Partygate is closely based on the findings of the various reports into the titular political scandal. Grace and Annabel are fictional, but most of the other characters are based on real people and most events are reconstructed based on reports and investigations.
- The Faceless: Boris Johnson is shown in news footage, and clips of some of his press briefings are interwoven with the main characters' presence in the audience, or elsewhere around him. However, whenever he appears in fictional form, in a less public setting — such as when speaking at the Downing Street parties — he's faceless and filmed from behind.
- The Film of the Book: A variation. The opening titles state that Partygate is "based on real events", cut to Grace preparing for her interview, and then cut back to a title screen, adding that the drama's also based on "Sue Gray's report into Partygate". Later scenes emphasise how closely it follows that report by displaying quotes as captions, or by Breaking the Fourth Wall so that characters can call out differences between the report and the onscreen events.
- Historical Domain Character:
- Boris Johnson is depicted in news footage, but also appears as The Faceless within many Downing Street scenes. Comedian and impressionist Jon Culshaw provides his voice.
- Martin Reynolds, Boris Johnson's Principal Private Secretary, is portrayed by Edwin Flay. He's introduced writing an email to 200+ Downing Street staff, inviting them all to a garden gathering and telling them to bring their own booze.
- Lee Cain, Downing Street Director of Communications, is portrayed by Craig Parkinson. Cain is depicted as cynical and disapproving of the initial gatherings.
- Helen MacNamara, the government's Director General of Propriety and Ethics, is played by Charlotte Ritchie. She's first seen saying that she'll bring a karaoke machine to one of the parties — the show immediately follows this with a dramatised flashback to her earlier press statement about the importance of governmental ethics.
- Sir Mark Sedwill, portrayed by Anthony Calf, was the real head of the British civil service during the 2020 lockdown. In the wake of one party, he's shown to be angry that his office is a complete mess and someone has been dancing on his desk.
- Boris Johnson's head of operations, Shelley Williams-Walker, appears near the end. She's initially seen DJing at a party, on the night before Prince Philip's funeral — and then Breaks the Fourth Wall, saying that Sue Gray's report doesn't actually confirm that she was the DJ.
- Historical Figures in Archival Media:
- Boris Johnson is regularly shown in clips of interviews and press conferences. For the March 2020 press statement where he mentioned shaking hands with Coronavirus patients, the scene cuts back and forth between Johnson at the podium and the reactions of staff in the audience, including Grace and Annabel.
- Footage of Allegra Stratton's press conference rehearsal, the leaked video in which she joked about Downing Street parties, is shown. The scene mixes it with shots of Grace and Annabel in the rehearsal's audience. At the very end of the drama, footage of Stratton's resignation statement is also shown.
- Mood Dissonance: The drama's May 2020 segment cuts back and forth between Grace and Annabel, who are bringing a suitcase full of wine back to Downing Street for the garden party, and the same day's news footage of minister Oliver Dowden. As Annabel laughs at the awkwardness of hauling the heavy case into the building, a sombre Dowden confirms that 35,704 people have died, with 363 new deaths in the last day.
- Pixellation:
- When a scene shows Grace and Annabel watching Allegra Stratton's press conference rehearsal, the faces of other attendees sitting around them are pixellated out.
- Some of the real news footage the drama chooses to use is already pixelated, hiding the faces of those being treated in hospital or arrested by the police.
- Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: When Grace starts losing faith in the Downing Street culture, uncomfortable with the disconnect between the office parties and the country's COVID-19 lockdown rules, Annabel directly tells her that it's not necessary or practical for Downing Street staff to follow their own rules.Annabel: People need boundaries. They... they respond well to boundaries, and it's our job to give them those boundaries. That is what we are doing. But they are not... they're not meant for us. [pauses, voice drops to a whisper] It's our job to make the rules, but it's not up to us to follow those rules, it's... it's just not realistic. You do get that? You're one of us now. It's ok.
- Shame If Something Happened: At the end, when Annabel is increasingly aware of Grace's doubts, she casually mentions a phone call from "Leaky Hugh", a colleague who Grace doesn't remember. Apparently Hugh was fired a couple of weeks after Grace started, for talking to the wrong journalists about the wrong things. Annabel mentions that the unfortunate Hugh still hasn't found a new job after all this time. Whether or not Hugh really exists, the implicit threat is that Grace will be fired and blacklisted if she says anything about the parties.
- Sounding It Out: The drama involves a number of emails sent to Downing Street staff, and handles them with a mix of Voiceover Letters and scenes that show staff running through the text out loud before they send the mails.Martin Reynolds: [voiceover, sounds of typing] Hi all, after what has been an incredibly busy period [cut to Martin at his computer, reading his draft email aloud] we thought it would be nice to make the best of this lovely weather [smiles] and have some socially distant drinks in the Number 10 garden this evening. Please join us from 6pm... and... [looks down, focuses on typing] bring your own booze!
- Suspiciously Apropos Music: In one of the last scenes, Grace listens to a drunken Shirley talking about her DJing. By this point Grace is guilty and unsettled by the lockdown parties and has lost all faith in the Downing Street culture. A previous Framing Device scene has shown her saying that she doesn't think the people at the parties comprehended how wrong they were. As Grace silently walks away, Shirley, lost in her own thoughts, starts singing the "Guilty feet have got no rhythm, But it's easy to pretend" lines from George Michael's "Careless Whisper", which is playing inside.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Grace witnesses one very drunk man vomit over the floor towards the end of a party. It's shown onscreen, accompanied by a caption from the Sue Gray report stating that one man was sick at the gathering.
