BBC television drama series portrayed ordinary mom elevated to Free World leader – 3 stars ***

By Robin Rowe

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 9/6/2008 – Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has said that the difference between a hockey mom and a Pit Bull is a hockey mom wears lipstick. Like recent real life events with Governor Palin, in the television series ‘The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard’, the ficitional Mrs. Pritchard is elevated quickly in the world of politics and has a sexy teenage daughter who makes scandalous headlines. Mrs. Pritchard must also contend with skeletons in her closet and the media’s thirst to discover scandal or even invent it.

‘The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard’ follows supermarket manager Ros Pritchard, fed up with British politics, standing for election as an independent candidate in her home town of Eatanswill, Yorkshire. She gains national attention and other female candidates flock to her new Purple Alliance. They sweep the general election, making Mrs. Pritchard Britain’s Prime Minister. In the BBC television series, the real Tony Blair calls to congratulate her.

“When I read the script it touched a nerve,” says Jane Horrocks of her role as Mrs Pritchard. “Mrs Pritchard is a people person who runs her life and her shop with the kind of friendly efficiency that makes her loved by everyone she meets. She’s the voice of reason with the ability to cut through the flim flam of politics.”

“So many people don’t feel involved any more and find politics so dull that they don’t even bother voting,” says Horrocks. “I haven’t voted at the last two elections for that reason, which is outrageous, but I know I am not alone. That’s why I think this could be quite an important piece of drama because it might get people talking about politics again and becoming more interested in what is going on.”

“I don’t know if a woman would necessarily make a better prime minister than a man,” says Horrocks. “The reason why Mrs Pritchard is, potentially, a good prime minister is that she is an honest person and a people person. She really cares about what the public wants unlike, it seems, many politicians today. I only hope that people don’t think I really am the Prime Minister, although I know there are people around who will be daft enough to think I am! Mrs Pritchard does look more like me than any other character I have played. In the past I’ve always managed to avoid being recognized until I open my mouth.”

Mrs. Pritchard’s shoot-from-the-hit decision making and her promise to never lie endear her at first to the people, and alarm the professional politicians.

Janet McTeer plays Catherine Walker, the experienced MP who becomes Deputy Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer after defecting to Mrs. Pritchard from her own conservative party that had failed her. She’s the seasoned politician with a mostly steady hand who keeps Mrs. Pritchard spur-of-the-moment proposals and wild plans from becoming disasters. McTeer is Mrs. Churchill in the upcoming HBO series Churchill at War.

Carey Mulligan is the sexy rebellious daughter. She played Kitty Bennet, Keira Knightley’s sister in Pride & Prejudice. Mulligan was also in an episode of Doctor Who and the film When Did You Last See Your Father?

The younger Pritchard daughter, the young stable sensible one who throws all her support behind her mom, is played by Jemma McKenzie-Brown. She was Tara in High School Musical 3.

Steven Mackintosh of Two Smoking Barrels plays Mr. Pritchard, the brooding husband who has secrets in his past that won’t bear close examination.

‘The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard’ starts as a light-hearted romp through the stuffiness of politics, something along the line of Yes, Prime Minister. However, the fun and farce get more and more left behind as the series progresses. It becomes more of a drama, like an episode of Dallas. The series Commander-in-Chief starring Geena Davis as the first woman President, also suffered this fate of taking itself too seriously as time went on. Audiences like politics served warm with humor, unlike reality which is too often depressing.

The cliffhanger ending of ‘The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard’ leaves you deflated with the feeling that the characters we knew and trusted have lost their way and ultimately succumbed to Dark Side they promised to resist.

‘The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard’ aired on BBC One in 2006 and in the United States on PBS in 2007. It’s available on DVD from Acorn Media.