Channel 4 announces "provocative" docudrama Partygate the True Story
The factual drama will tell the "real, untold story" behind the 2021 political scandal.
Channel 4 will be diving into the COVID controversy that was Partygate in an upcoming docudrama from the makers of Killed by My Debt.
The factual drama, titled Partygate the True Story, is set to explore the pandemic scandal of 2020 and 2021, during which time reports of the government and Conservative Party staff holding parties despite lockdown restrictions came to light.
"As the horrors of COVID unfolded – three national lockdowns, PPE, 40,000 care home deaths, socially distanced funerals, a peak of more than 1,000 dead a day by January 2021 – Downing Street staff kicked back at a string of parties lubricated by quantities of alcohol," Channel 4 teases.
It says Partygate will tell "the real, untold story" behind one of the biggest news stories during the pandemic, "juxtaposing the revelry inside the nation's seat of power with the hardship and sacrifice being experienced across the rest of the country".
Ian Katz, Channel 4's chief content officer, said in a statement: "This is a slate of programmes that shows Channel 4 is as disruptive, original and purposeful as it has ever been.
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"From holding politicians to account over partygate to examining the vexed debate over gender identity, from exposing the unspoken side-effects of the pill to seeking solutions to avert climate disaster, these are shows that speak to the concerns of young British viewers and create real world impact."
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The Partygate scandal was first reported in November 2021, with news of 10 Downing Street staff holding 2020 Christmas gatherings hitting the headlines and then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson denying that a party took place.
However, after a video of a mock press conference came to light in which staff joke about a party taking place, Downing Street Press Secretary Allegra Stratton resigned from her position, and civil servant Sue Gray launched a Cabinet Office inquiry into the scandal, concluding in her report that "excessive alcohol consumption" took place at several events in 2020 with staff staying beyond 3am.
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The report, which looked into 15 events on 12 dates between May 2020 and April 2021, also concluded that Johnson had attended eight of the events alongside a number of senior officials within the government.
Alongside Partygate, Channel 4 has commissioned other documentary content including Depp V Heard, a three-part series examining the infamous defamation trial, and The Pill, a documentary fronted by Davina McCall about contraception in the UK.
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