Of all the animals of prey, man is the only sociable one.
Every one of us preys upon his neighbour, and yet we herd together.
The Beggar's Opera: John Gay

Tuesday, 13 April 2010

Gordon Brown versus the Daleks: AD 2010 - the PEB

Labour's party election broadcast:



Spot anything familiar about this man? That's right; Labour’s Everyman figure, the stand-in for Gordon Brown, is Sean Pertwee, son of Jon. And for those of us in our forties, that means only one thing.

When he says, "My father always said 'don't give up’. ‘Show resolve’, he said. He was so right", he’s talking about Dr Who.

The bleak rain-washed landscape has much in common with the sort of place the Time Lord used to end up in on a regular basis – give or take the odd alien life-form - even down to the implausible blue roadblock. You expect the Brigadier to put in an appearance at any moment. ‘Is it deliberate?’ we ask ourselves, ‘What are they trying to say?’

When Brown said of Cameron, “I don’t know him as a human”, was there more to the statement than we thought? Why else enlist an actor who is such a chip off the old block that the opening shots had forty-somethings diving behind the sofa as the conditioned reflex kicked in?

There’s a clue too in the use of speeded-up clocks – time, see? And if that were not proof enough, listen out for the final voice-over. Yes, that is David Tennant, Dr Who in person. The subliminal message is clear.

'Vote Labour or the Daleks will get you.'


Update: Many thanks to Demetrius for this - try playing both at the same time (start the Harry Lauder first). Was it the soundtrack they originally intended, I wonder, or is it purely coincidental?


4 comments:

  1. Any day now Gordon will do his Harry Lauder Tribute turn.

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  2. Thanks for the suggestion - it looks like he's already doing it by proxy.

    Perhaps they rejected it because there's something a bit too final about 'the end of the road' - you can believe anything of an organisation that decides to use blue 'Road Closed' signs in their film instead of red.

    Sean Pertwee for Prime Minister!

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  3. There are few things scarier than a monotoned machine like creature that destroys everything in it's path in a quest for power.

    Daleks are quite frightening too.

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  4. When he says, "My father always said 'don't give up’. ‘Show resolve’, he said. He was so right", he’s talking about Dr Who.

    He's also talking about Worzel Gummidge with his 'Vote Labour' head on. You know, the empty one.

    Oh, and all Daleks vote Labour. So do Cybermen. They are all very much into equality, that lot.

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