‘The Trail of Tony Blair, from the makers of ‘A Very Social Secretary’, was premiered on More4 last night, with a terrestrial airing to come this Thursday (Channel 4, 10pm). The voice-over introducing it called it biting satire… well I wouldn’t go that far. It was a lot of fun, and there were some great performances, but I didn’t feel I was getting any new perspective on our politicians. The problem, I think, lies in the fact that our leaders have already been de-mystified – we’re quite aware that Tony Blair is concerned with his legacy, and assume that David Cameron would much rather be driving round in a Chelsea Tractor than riding a bike. So when we’re told these things with the intention of getting a laugh, it doesn’t always work because we’ve already accepted them as true.

Tony Blair’s obsession with how history will judge him was portrayed as his constant motivation. He was shown, essentially, as an ego-maniacal baffoon who believes that now he has handed over the reigns of power (in 2010!) his greatest achievements are still yet to come, while everyone around him wishes he’d accept that having been Prime Minister is probably enough. Despite all the constant delusions of enduring grandeur, though, he’s consistently haunted by images of the Iraq conflict – both the devastation it has caused Iraqi civilians, and the idea that that one area of his tenure really will be seen as ‘his legacy’. Worryingly, it’s hard to tell which concerns him more.

Surprisingly, the most layered character was probably Cherie Blair, where you’d perhaps expect the most 2-D caricature. While she started out as the somewhat embarrassing, over-bearing matriarch, she slowly revealed herself to be a rather unexpected voice of reason in the madness.

As I said, I’m afraid we’re all too savvy nowadays to be shocked by the inner-workings of politics, but inspired little moments, like when we learned that George Bush has been in rehab, made for an enjoyable 90 mins, and some of Blair’s Iraq hallucinations were innovatively directed, and genuinely quite distressing. Not a masterpiece, then, but it did offer an amusing and at times touching picture of what life can really offer an ex-Prime Minister. [annawaits]