For those of you who missed the public outing of Peter Mandelson: The Real PM, the remarkably revealing, fly-on-the-turd
psychomentary by the gloriously talented Hannah Rothschild, don’t despair, the boy will be back in town on DVD in full Slimeorama on 19th September. As I’ve already reviewed the show for this blog, the good and the great thought it would be a bit of a wheeze if I had a
quick chat with Hannah over the phone.
Now that was a shame, because lunch would have been much more fun, as Hannah was bubbly, mischievous and a Vesuvius of high grade gossip. She is so utterly disarming I can understand why Mandelson agreed to bare all (well, not all, thank God). The trouble is he is so vain he didn’t realise he was behaving like a Pope dispensing his infallible wisdom to the terrified serfs whom he treated with the distain he no doubt thought they were grateful for.
“So how on earth did you persuade him to do it?” I enquired.
“Well, I just asked. You know what Peter’s like, he can’t resist saying yes. It’s one of his strengths and weaknesses”.
“And what did he think of the finished product?” (At this there was a squeal of laughter.)
“Actually, he thought I’d made him look rather fat.”
Hannah Rothschild has had good training in preparation for filming the good lord. Her first screenplay was entitled Wanker, which was all about a student who pays his way through college by donating his sperm. And then all the little Houdinis come back to find their daddy. Ridley Scott bought the rights.
And then there was a splendid fly on the wall on Nicky Haslam, the exotic, partying, interior decorator. I reminded Hannah of some of the critics. “You might pronounce Haslam absurd, a fraternally self renovating social butterfly… devoting every hour to networking, party going and rubbing shoulders with the beautiful… funny, camp, melancholy and appalling”.
“Bit of a similarity here”, says I, sensing a cheap shot.
“Well yes. Both are outsiders in the thick of things and loners. And you know that £8m Gothic pile that Peter is said to have bought? I’m pretty sure that Nicky decorated it”.
But there are some juicy titbits in the DVD. Some vignettes that hit the cutting room floor because of lack of time for the television debut. They sound well worth waiting for. Hannah told me of a scene where Mandelson is quite bitchy about Sam Cam. “He goes on about her phoney estuary accent of which she is so proud because Dave can work the television remote at the same time as playing with his Blackberry. And he bangs on about Osborne being the weakest link.”
However, the scene that will cause most consternation in the Labour camp is his dismissal of then Health Secretary, Andy Burnham. “Oh, he wants to cut the health service, but we will tell him what to do,” says a regal Mandelson.
I ask her what the fascination is with the likes of Joan Collins, her first documentary, Nicky Haslam and Mandelson.
“I just love camp, outrageous people”.
I can’t wait to buy the DVD. Oh, and she also did one entitled Keeping Up With The Medicis. Joyous.
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