Hi Rory, your new show, Rory Bremner’s Election Report, starts tonight (BBC2, 10pm). Do you worry that a lot of people might not feel that there’s a lot to laugh about after an election result like that?
Yes, and I agree with that. But on the other hand, we need satire and laughter is the best medicine. Unless you’re diabetic, in which case insulin comes in handy.
How much rewriting were you doing on Friday morning after the results?
Well, I’d like to say we saw it coming, but that wouldn’t be right. It would, in fact, be a lie. But I did think it might be a Tory-led coalition and the SNP would get 50. Right in one sense – it’s a coalition between Cameron’s Conservatives and the Eurosceptic right. Yep, lots of rewrites overnight after the exit poll. But to be fair, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg had to do a bit of rewriting, too.
What can we expect from the show?
Songs, sketches, a little dancing. The usual. Actually, a lot of Cameron, a bit of Miliband, some excellent cameos from John Bird, Matt Forde, Sara Pascoe, Jess Robinson, Fay Ripley and Tim Pigott-Smith. Fun (DC, Mandelson); anger (IDS); music (Hague, singing: you’ve been warned). And some stuff you may not know and won’t believe about polar bears and our Airbus refuelling fleet. Seriously.
What have you made of the past few days, and the campaign as a whole?
Well, a show, for a start. The past few days have been a stunning reversal of expectations, from talk of hung parliaments and Miliband in charge to the resurgence of the right. David Davis. Peter Bone. Prioritising Europe and human rights. It’s like that scene from Thriller where the zombies rise up out of the graveyard. The campaign was depressingly negative and dangerously divisive, particularly regarding Scotland and England. Cameron needs to stop acting like Edward I and be a statesman. Ditto Sturgeon (William Wallace in her case). I have more faith that she can do that than he can.
What were your comic highlights of the campaign?
The EdStone (whose idea was that? Did they really run out of ideas halfway down?). And the best bit at the end, when Farage resigned and the party didn’t accept it. Back to that Bushtucker trial, Nigel. You’re not getting away that easily.
Does the relative political certainty of a majority as opposed to a coalition make your job easier, in that you know what targets to aim at?
Not really. Both certainty and coalition have rich comic potential. The difference is, we may actually have an opportunity to satirise this government. We didn’t before, and that’s part of a public disengagement with politics, in England at least.
What sort of potential does a new Tory government – and, in particular, their rather extraordinary cabinet – offer for satire?
Well, we’re seeing it straight away. Talk of new beginnings just as Gove, Osborne and IDS get their brogues back under the cabinet table. Boris in cabinet but without portfolio – inside the tent missing out, as it were. Eric Pickles. The Eurosceptic bunch. And £12bn welfare cuts to come. What could possibly go wrong?
People tend to talk about the Thatcher years of ideological battlelines as a golden age for political comedy. Does satire work better under a rightwing government?
Depends what you mean by “work better”. As Peter Cook said, it did so much to halt the rise of Hitler. It is probably darker and angrier, though, as rightwing governments can do a lot of damage. As can leftwing ones, but we haven’t had one of those for a while …
What have you made of all the recent TV election comedies such as Newzoids, Ballot Monkeys, The Vote and Election Wipe? Which ones worked best as far as you’re concerned?
Terrible admission, but I’m afraid I’ve hardly seen any. What I saw of Newzoids had good moments – certainly, it has good writers and the voices are terrific. Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin are brilliant, so I’ll have to catch their Ballot Monkeys online.
You don’t see many impressionists on TV these days. Is it due to the homogenisation of the political class, the fact that Miliband, Clegg and Cameron are all from broadly similar backgrounds?
These things come and go. The celebrity world sends itself up very successfully but there’s always a place for a Morgana or a Dead Ringers/Alistair McGowan/Ronni Ancona/Jon Culshaw/Debra Stephenson show. On politics, yes, the voices are less recognisable. Nick Clegg struggled to do a good Nick Clegg, and I’m not sure Ed Davey, Patrick McLoughlin and Phil Hammond are that known outside their own households. Or even inside, in Phil Hammond’s case. Mandelson/Prescott/Brown/Blunkett/Blair arrived fully formed from opposition. Many of the current lot rose without trace.
What are your predictions for the next five years in British politics?
I predict a riot. And a 100% swing away from poll predictions. Either way, it’s going to be a rough ride. Get in.
And what’s next for you?
Some sleep. Some book festivals (Swindon tomorrow, Salisbury 3 June, Melrose 11-14 June) and some cricket. Those Ashes won’t watch themselves.
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Rory Bremner’s Election Report, Wednesday 12 May, 10pm, BBC2.
