This England, Now TV
2020 and the covid pandemic was being recognised as a defining moment in history as it unfolded. So it makes sense that a mere two years later, Michael Winterbottom has claimed first dibs on attempting to process it artistically.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and This England definitely bears value in presenting the major sagas of the pandemic as we now understand them to have actually unfolded. Dominic Cummings’ whereabouts and covid case numbers were reported among a fever dream of smoke, mirrors, hysteria and spin at the time. Now we know the true nature of the events of 2020, we can better understand the true depth of the government’s incompetence.
Which of This England’s real-life characters comes off the worst? Matt Hancock is incompetent with an edge of corruption, distorting test numbers in order to make him and his department appear more capable. Boris is presented as a well-meaning but vapid and haughty buffoon. It’s a depiction that has upset people on the left, who feel that it too kindly humanises a man responsible for the deaths of thousands. In reality, it is probably quite an astute way to characterise someone who, even in 2022 (and despite his clear ineptitude for office), is still popular with large sections of the UK public. This is the second big budget drama about Dominic Cummings (see Brexit: The Uncivil War) testament to his position as the main villain and architect of one of Britain’s most poisonous political eras.
The problem with This England is how fresh in the mind the events of 2020 are. Not enough of the programme’s scenes show things we don’t already know and that we haven’t tried to forget. Two full episodes of this series show people dying in hospital on ventilators. In ramming home the criminal negligence of Boris and his cabinet, This England becomes unbearable for anyone affected by covid-19.
Along the same lines, the tone of the series is hard to engage with. For moments it is political satire, ridiculing Johnson’s decision to write a book on Shakespeare instead of engaging with his job, and then at other times we see people saying goodbye to their parents through an iPad. The series doesn’t always move satisfyingly between these two modes – evidence of the gulf between different individual experiences of covid. While some enjoyed memes about Barnard Castle, others had their families torn apart.
The events of This England are undoubtedly Boris Johnson’s legacy. He’ll be disappointed with how pathetic and un-Shakespearian they are. The characters of the covid pandemic were not calculated or even proud villains. They were lazy, ill-prepared human beings… who were bad at their jobs.
