‘Face of Boris Johnson’ won’t appear in Channel 4 Partygate drama - just his voice
Boris Johnson will be a faceless presence in a new dramatisation about the “Partygate” scandal, with his distinctive voice provided by an impressionist.
Channel 4 announced that it would cover the politically-costly drunken revelry inside Number 10 in a new production called Partygate the True Story.
But as the broadcaster revealed the cast for the documentary-drama, it emerged that Mr Johnson will be a faceless presence.
The former prime minister will merely be “voiced” in the new production, with Jon Culshaw, the renowned impressionist playing the spoken-word-only part in the “meticulously researched docudrama” which “takes viewers inside No 10”.
Producers said the decision to merely show the outline of the actor playing Mr Johnson, and not their face, was a creative one.
It is understood keeping the former prime minister as a faceless presence will allow the production to interweave archive clips of the politician without them jarring with the differing looks of the actor playing him.
Centres on two fictional special advisors
The docudrama will centre on two fictional special advisors, played by actresses Georgie Henley and Ophelia Lovibond, who are close to the series of lockdown parties which ultimately caused a scandal which forced Mr Johnson to resign in 2022.
Quadrophenia star Phil Daniels will also appear in the Partygate the True Story.
Announcing the cast on Tuesday, Channel 4 said: “It will tell the inside story in dramatic re-enactments interwoven with news archive footage and documentary interviews, showing the horrors of Covid unfold across the nation, while staff at Number 10 kicked back at a string of parties lubricated by quantities of alcohol.”
Mr Johnson was fined for attending his own birthday party in Downing Street, and faced calls to resign.
He apologised to Parliament for his attendance at some events which took place in Number 10, saying that he accepted “full responsibility” for what took place in his place of work.
However, amid a mounting number of resignations from his ministerial appointments, he stepped down in July 2022.
