Ballot Monkeys team return with Power Monkeys
- The team behind political sitcom Ballot Monkeys are now making a new series called Power Monkeys
- The new six-part series will be focused around the EU Referendum and the US Presidential election
- Written by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin, most scenes will be filmed on the day of broadcast
Channel 4 has announced Power Monkeys, a new six-part series from the team that made Ballot Monkeys.
Created by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin last year to coincide with the General Election, Ballot Monkeys was set on the battle buses of the various political parties. Much of the content was filmed within 48 hours before broadcast to allow the writers to include a number of topical gags. The show won praise from the press and comedy fans, and won the British Comedy Guide Editors' Award 2015.
Now Channel 4 has confirmed Hamilton and Jenkin will return to the format with Power Monkeys, a series based on the EU Referendum and US Presidential election.
The network explains: "Following the success of 2015 election comedy Ballot Monkeys, Channel 4 returns to the political world with Power Monkeys. The six-part scripted comedy will have 2016's two major global elections in its sights, looking past parochial party politics to cover the Brexit vote, as well as taking audiences behind the scenes at the Trump campaign. Plus there will be many unexpected surprises along the way; even a visit to the Kremlin!
"Led by the real world news agenda, and written again by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin (Outnumbered, Drop The Dead Donkey), the topical political comedy will again be filming much of the show on the day of transmission to ensure it mirrors real world political events. And like its predecessor, Power Monkeys will delight in showing the absurd panic and machinations of all the backstage teams involved in last-minute political shenanigans for 2016."
Channel 4's Phil Clarke says: "I'm delighted to announce that I have no idea what the content of this series will be. It will be satirical, highly topical, and filmed at the last minute. It's exactly the type of show we should be making."
Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin comment: "We're very excited to be back on Channel 4, visiting backstage worlds where we can watch besieged teams of characters trying to cope with the whims, mistakes and egos of the powerful."
It is not yet known if any of the cast from Ballot Monkeys will be involved in the new series, or whether it will focus on different characters. Further details are expected to be announced shortly.
Power Monkeys will launch in June, with two episodes bookending the Referendum vote, which is due to take place on the 23rd June. The first will detail the last-minute tensions the day before the election and the second will be set the following day as the dust settles "over what may be a brand new world". Subsequent episodes will follow later. The US Presidential vote is set to take place in November.
Channel 4 also announced today that Eurotrash will return for a one-off special. "At a time when we are deciding whether to break up with or embrace our relationship with the EU the eternally debonair Antoine de Caunes and Jean Paul Gaultier will return with édition spéciale of Eurotrash to remind us, their straight laced British chums, of some of the best, worst and weirdest things that Europe has offered us over the years.
As a further part of the channel's comedy-related programming linked to the EU Referendum, Henning Wehn will return with a series of An Immigrants Guide To Britain to "shed a mischievous light on life in Britain".