Channel 4 announces Power Monkeys cast
- Jack Dee, Claire Skinner and Ben Willbond are amongst the cast for Power Monkeys
- The show focuses on the Tory Unity Unit, the Brexit bus, Donald Trump's plane and the Kremlin
- The six episode series starts on Channel 4 on Wednesday 8th June at 10pm
Channel 4 has announced the cast for topical political comedy series Power Monkeys, the sequel to Ballot Monkeys.
The series, which is described as "a show like no other - a scripted comedy (practically) made and aired in one day, with six writers, four directors and a whole host of panicking political power monkeys", will star the likes of Jack Dee, Claire Skinner, Amelia Bullmore and Ben Willbond.
The show has been created by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin, the Drop The Dead Donkey creators who last year brought General Election comedy Ballot Monkeys to screens.
The six new Power Monkeys episodes will focus around various fictional communications and social media 'experts', on both sides of the EU referendum, "as well as taking audiences a few doors down from the Kremlin and into the imagined world of Donald Trump's campaign plane".
The main actors are:
Conservative characters
Jack Dee, who plays Oliver, a volatile ex-hack working at Conservative HQ's Unity Unit who regularly enjoys winding up his sensitive colleague Sarah.
Claire Skinner: Sarah, who also works at the Conservative's Unity Unit, and employs laboured metaphors in what her colleagues unkindly term her 'psychobabble'.
Anthony Calf: Tony is a fence-sitter and veteran 'survivor' of Tory party politics.
Liz Kingsman: Ruby is the privileged and not-very-bright character last seen in Ballot Monkeys. She is now the Unity Unit's assistant; a PA impervious to being fired since she's the daughter of a prestigious party donor.
Archie Panjabi: Preeya is a careerist Conservative who flits between being pro and anti-Brexit, depending on who she wants to impress within the party.
Brexit characters
Kevin McNally: Spencer runs the cross-party Brexit Roadshow bus. He is a disenchanted former UKIP-er now hopelessly in love with an Eastern European.
Andy Nyman: Gerry, last seen in Ballot Monkeys working on the UKIP bus, is now the Brexit Roadshow's production manager. Gerry is busy prepping for any potential disasters, while at the same time dealing with some very personal family issues - namely his father's funeral combined with some nightmare relatives.
Gwyneth Keyworth: Jackie is an idealistic left-wing student and staunch Corbynista.
Donald Trump's team
Amelia Bullmore: Lauren works on Trump's campaign plane. A moderate Republican, she has been drafted in specifically to help the controversial presidential hopeful win women's votes.
Ayda Field: Bea, who hero worships her boss Donald, clashes with Lauren and causes Lauren to question if she is the right person for the job.
Robert Wilfort: Brett is also on Trump's campaign plane, and like Bea is firmly behind the presidential hopeful.
The Kremlin
Ben Willbond: At the Kremlin, Oleg is jostling for Putin's favour.
Alec Utgoff: Alexi works with Oleg as a apparatchik, monitoring the news of the day from the Western media.
Guy Jenkin will direct the scenes set at Conservative HQ, Andy Hamilton is directing the scenes on the Brexit bus, Neil Pearson is overseeing the filming on the Kremlin set, and Paul Schlesinger is the director in charge of the US Republican scenes.
Power Monkeys will be shown on Channel 4 every Wednesday at 10pm from the 8th June, with a special episode broadcasting the day after the EU referendum, Friday 24th June, which will react to the vote.