BBC1, 9 pm

OK, November 2002

A bit of a paradox this. The last time I saw Archer, he was jowl-faced with a smug smile and fairish hair. So it's a bit of a shock to find attractive redhead Damian Lewis portraying the warped politician in this one-off drama -- admittedly the show is largely tongue-in-cheek. Writer and director Guy Jenkin describes this film as "an alternative history of modern Britain, which owes more to Naked Gun than to Jonathan Swift," but he still insists that most of what is told about the athlete, statesman and man of letters is based on truth. Greta Scacchi, who can be seen in Daniel Deronda, has the pleasure of playing Margaret Thatcher. Tapes were unavailable at the time of writing -- which is often the case with potentially controversial dramas!

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