The Tories is a political satire written by the anonymous author behind Twitter’s favourite right wing mole, the Secret Tory. We satirise the week’s political events in a bizarre narrative environment that allows characters – who are preoccupied with the kind of low-brow culture that would make the average Spectator reader recoil – to develop independently. The roles are based on prominent Tories and right-wing media personalities, and are largely voiced against type – Glaswegian Rees-Mogg, West Yorkshire Boris Johnson, Mafioso Robert Jenrick – both for effect and to illustrate the gulf between their self-perception and the people they actually represent.
Begun with a tiny cast of friends voicing all the characters, The Tories’ rapid success has seen professional actors volunteer to take part, including Con O’Neill (Our Flag Means Death, The Batman, Chernobyl), Oliver Milburn (The Crown, The Royals, Green Wing), Rosie Holt (2022 Winner – Chortle Awards) and Hugh Grant (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and the rest!).
Working with the writer and actors on the script, narrative and direction, I created all aspects of the visual production and sound editing, often to very short deadlines.
The first season took the form of a low-budget soap opera, lip-syncing characters to interviews and stock footage. It ran for eight weeks from October 2020 returning with ‘Who Shot JRM?’, a Christmas Special featuring Hugh Grant.
Season 2 adopted The Apprentice format, pitting the Tories against a team of prominent sceptics as they try to combat a fictional pandemic, adding comedian Sooz Kempner and Ewen Macintosh (The Office) to the cast.
Season 3 was a trilogy of specials charting the last months of the Johnson premiership, introducing another change in format in the form of an animation in a retro computer game style. This saw renowned comic actor Steve Speirs (Star Wars, After Life, Upstart Crow) join the cast.
To date the show has over 4 million views on Twitter and was featured in the Independent’s ‘Indy100’ round up. It has been admired and shared by an astonishing and eclectic range of well-known figures who include Deborah Meaden, Caitlin Moran, Terry Christian, Mark Butcher, James O’Brien, Adam Boulton, Ralf Little and Hugh Grant.
View all the episodes here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCBl9yMEe_CCOM5msfvcJRA/playlists
Music: Dan Webster.
