You would think that Nigel Farage’s life over the last few months would be ripe for satire. The BBC certainly thinks so, hence this one-off mockumentary about his post-Brexit antics. The trouble is that the UKIP leader’s recent life is actually way beyond satire, making it hard for this programme to get that many more laughs by fictionalising it.
Kevin Bishop, last seen in the BBC’s Porridge reboot, plays the Leave campaigner trying to find things to occupy his time now that he has stepped down from the party leadership. He hangs around the village pub with a pint in his hand doing his man-of-the-people schtick, he smokes fags (“Mr Rothmans") and he attempts to do jigsaws. So far so not-very-funny.
Elsewhere we get a glimpse of his domestic set-up. Overheard phone calls suggest that his wife would like him to spend more time away. At one point he returns to chateau Farage to find the door locked. But apart from a trip to meet Trump in America (not shown, BBC budgets can only stretch so far…) he spends most of his time in his shed-cum-office, fielding calls from reality TV programmes, which he is not averse to considering as long as they add another cheeky zero to their offer.
What this programme seems to lack, however, is enough focus. Bishop looks the part in his smart suit and coat but huffs and puffs a little like a young Tommy Cooper and the script, by Alan Connor and Shaun Pye, has a habit of drifting towards Alan Partridge-isms. At one point outside the pub a young man comes over. Farage groans at the prospect of another selfie but prepares to smile for the camera. It turns out the young man is just picking up his jacket that he left earlier.
Somehow this doesn’t quite work, despite plenty of detail. There’s a scene where he fondles a bit of the plane that he crashed in, there’s a scene where he has an argument with his local cricket team. A nice bit of accidental accuracy is catching him watching It Ain’t Half Hot Mum – last week the real Farage tweeted his tribute to its creator Jimmy Perry when his death was announced.
But somehow all of these little bits don't add up to much. The one highlight again finds him passing the time watching television. It is an edition of Pointless where his name comes up and Richard Osman says after wondering about the pronunciation “I guess we don’t need to know now.” “Fuck you Osman” shouts Bishop’s Farage at the screen. It’s a great gag. If only there were more like that here.
