Brexit: The Uncivil War review, Channel 4: a thrilling romp through the referendum

??How did the British people come to vote to leave the European Union? A swathe of books have revealed all about the referendum campaign, and now James Graham – a playwright known for deftly tackling political themes – has woven much of this information into a TV drama due to screen in January but of which I’ve had a sneak preview. 

Our guide through this is Dominic Cummings, the real-life Vote Leave campaign director played here by Benedict Cumberbatch. He is basically what Sherlock Holmes would be like as a political strategist – powered by learning, huge self-belief and a desire to tear apart “conventional wisdom” – so the casting makes perfect sense. The most significant change that Cumberbatch needed to make in this role was to master a Durham accent.

CumberCummings is gripping to watch. He’s part Sherlock, putting people in their place (whether Remainers or pompous Brexiteers), and part Francis Urquhart, addressing the viewer directly and shooting the camera knowing winks?? as the drama unfolds. Certainly, part of the fun – as in House of Cards or The West Wing – is to see a top-level political professional at work.

The spotlight is firmly set on him and his fellow operatives both on the Brexit and Remain side. True, the major politicians such as Boris Johnson (played by Richard Goulding) and Michael Gove (Oliver Maltman, last seen in The Crown) provide occasional - and welcome - comic relief, and Paul Ryan brings appropriate raffishness as Nigel Farage (though failing to master his raspy Rothman-infused drawl). But the focus on Cummings and his ilk allows the programme to explore what makes antiheroes like him tick.

"He's not the messiah, he's a...f**king a***hole",” a Remainer campaigner sighs at one point to a colleague. Another campaigner points out how he used to like mocking Whitehall security when visiting Number 10 by signing in as Osama Bin Laden. I remember that well, as the man himself boasted about it on his blog - and when I pointed out to him, after checking with Downing Street, that they had no record of anyone signing in like that, rather than admit that he might be wrong or offer further detail, he grandly replied that he would not help me “waste public time” any further.

Of course, this is drama, not documentary: quite apart from the fact that it has already caused “Too soon!” controversy for appearing while we’re all still embroiled in the Brext debate, there are moments of invention that will annoy members of both camps. Leavers will resent moments such as the clandestine, spy-movie-style Hyde Park encounter in which Cummings is handed a cache of 3 million voters’ details by a Canadian tech nerd. Remainers will feel taunted by the sight of Cummings in front of a parliamentary select committee furiously demanding answers about his campaign conduct (when he has actually made his reluctance to face MPs very clear, wanting to avoid being subjected to any such histrionics).

??Other moments of artistic licence, though, allow Graham to sensitively explore why the Brexit vote happened. Cummings is depicted going for a drink with his Remainer arch enemy Craig Oliver (depicted solidly by Rory Kinnear) a week before the referendum, whereupon they engage in a smartly written back-and-forth about the nature of public discourse. Brexiteers, he is told, encourage voters “to yell”. His reply is that “they yell because they cannot be heard”. That is movingly shown when a focus group discussion overseen by the Remain side spins out of control, ending with a Brexit-inclined female voter in tears – this scene shows Graham’s way with both witty dialogue and moments of genuine poignancy.

Uncivil War is a thrilling romp through the referendum. It shows how Vote Leave defied the odds to persuade the nation to vote its way (even though it do??es make it seem as though the Brexiteers were practising witchcraft by campaigning on social media, rather than just doing it better than the Remainers). It also gives both Remainers and Brexiteers a sympathetic hearing. Yes, there was campaigning genius that drove Brexiteers to victory, but we also are reminded that the reasons they won were thoroughly human: people were tired of the current order and longed for change.

'Brexit: The Uncivil War’ premieres on Channel 4 on Monday 7 January at 9pm