Ballot Monkeys

Ballot Monkeys offered a darkly satirical look at the 2015 General Election.

The highly topical sitcom, broadcast during the climax of the May election and filmed just before transmission to allow it to be as topical as possible, intercuts between the various campaign buses of the four main parties: Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and UKIP.

On each bus, we follow the fortunes of a rich collection of characters - press officers, line managers, empathy consultants, SPADs, IT wizards, social media monitors, political analysts, interns and even bus drivers - as they crisis manage the latest dramas and developments, the very same ones that viewers will be well aware of, having only recently read about them or seen the breaking news via social media in real life.

Characters include:

Kevin Sturridge (Ben Miller): A Liberal Democrat campaign co-ordinator. Big into morale, he's a lifelong liberal who's ground down by the humiliation of the coalition.

Martin Frost (Hugh Dennis): The Conservatives' Deputy Campaign Manager. He is heavily overworked, and can be very caustic.

Kate Standen (Sarah Hadland): An office support manager for UKIP, Kate is an ex-TV presenter with an inflated notion of her abilities.

Jack Pardew (Trevor Cooper): The head of Labour's front line team. With responsibility for volunteers, canvassers and so on, Jim is an old Labour stalwart.

Siobhan Hope (Hattie Morahan): A Conservative party member offering logistic support and also a women's issues consultant. She is desperately keen, full of ideas, and always trying to think outside the box but feels increasingly marginalised.

Melanie Buck (Kathleen Rose Perkins): An American field strategist for Labour, who talks in short soundbites and mantras.