Channel 4 goes back to the polls for Power Monkeys

9 May 2016

Following the success of 2015 election comedy Ballot Monkeys, Channel 4 returns to the political world with Power Monkeys. The six-part scripted comedy will have 2016’s two major global elections in its sights, looking past parochial party politics to cover the Brexit vote, as well as taking audiences behind the scenes at the Trump campaign. Plus there will be many unexpected surprises along the way; even a visit to the Kremlin!

Led by the real world news agenda, and written again by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin (Ballot Monkeys, Outnumbered, Drop the Dead Donkey), the topical political comedy will again be filming much of the show on the day of transmission to ensure it mirrors real world political events.  And like its predecessor, Power Monkeys will delight in showing the absurd panic and machinations of all the backstage teams involved in last-minute political shenanigans for 2016.

The six-part scripted comedy will, of course, go big on the EU, with two episodes bookending June’s all-important Brexit referendum, one detailing the last-minute tensions the day before the election and another the following day as the dust settles over what may be a brand new world – all written, produced and aired on the channel in nearly real time.

Phil Clarke, head of Channel 4 comedy said “I’m delighted to announce that I have no idea what the content of this series will be.  It will be satirical, highly topical, and filmed at the last minute. It’s exactly the type of show we should be making.”

Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin who created the series said: “We’re very excited to be back on C4, visiting backstage worlds where we can watch besieged teams of characters trying to cope with the whims, mistakes and egos of the powerful.”

Power Monkeys was created by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin. It is produced Debbie Pisani and executive produced by Jimmy Mulville. It was commissioned for Channel 4’s head of comedy by Phil Clarke and Liz Lewin, commissioning editor for Channel 4 comedy. It will air on Channel 4 this June.