Stonehouse

A flawed individual would be a something of an understatement to describe UK politician John Stonehouse.

In politics from 1957 – 1974, he fell from grace by the late 1960s when PM Harold Wilson first confronted him about allegations he had been spying for Czechoslovakia. By 1974 his ‘creative accounting’ drew the attention of authorities.

Within a year he faked his own death and tried to disappear by fleeing to Melbourne.

Across the years he also had an affair with his secretary and little regard for his wife and children.

All of which makes for a juicy subject by writer John Preston and a 3 part miniseries by BritBox.

In the title role is the consummate Matthew Macfadyen (Succession, Pride & Prejudice) whose real wife Keeley Hawes takes on the role of his aspirational screen wife, Barbara Stonehouse.

While Barbara was proud of her husband rising through the political ranks, little did she know the extent of her husband’s dark secrets, which began following his routine visit to Czechoslovakia as a junior minister of Aviation. There, he was blackmailed into supplying the state with information from Wilson’s Labour government, which was soon clinging to power by a slim majority.

Stonehouse even persuaded the Czechs to pay him for information, and began to enjoy the high life of sporty cars, flashy gifts and multiple hidden bank accounts…

Life becomes less conventional and more murky when Sheila Buckley (Emer Heatley) arrives as his attractive young secretary, with Stonehouse even overlooking her odd speech impediment.

Needless to say as the heat ramps up, Stonehouse embarks on a farcical plot to fake his own death on a beach in Miami. He resurfaced in Melbourne under the name of Clive Mildoon but not everything went to plan.

Macfadyen gobbles up this role with so much wickedness, matched by the catch-me-if-you-can tone of the production by director Jon S. Baird. In the cool ’60s / ’70s it’s anything goes, when wrapped in a bouncy soundtrack and fetching fashions.

Macfadyen smirks and skulks on cue as Stonehouse’s antics veer from clandestine affairs to coming under scrutiny, whether from his wife or the authorities.

Keeley Hawes has the more difficult role of the oblivious Barbara, endeavouring to keep family together, swallowing the excuses of her husband, in an era and class system when women were expected to be too-often subservient.

Kevin McNally plays PM Harold Wilson, desperate to cling to power despite the unacceptable actions of his minister. Many of his scenes are unfortunately whittled down to consultations with Government Whip Betty Boothroyd (Dorothy Atkinson).

Naturally I was keen to see how the Melbourne scenes shaped up here. Filmed in Spain, it’s unlikely to be very passable to Aussies but an international audience will be none the wiser (eucalyptus trees, and driving on the left of the road should suffice, right?).

As a character study, Stonehouse revels in the man’s brazen and feeble schemes but leaves little room for sympathy when it comes to family commitments. Macfadyen never puts a foot wrong over the three hours of dramatisation, but I’m not sure the writing ever offers a satisfactory justification for his flaws …only that he spiralled more and more into the ‘romance’ of it all.

Nevertheless in the hands of fine performers, Stonehouse is easily entertaining and at 3 hours doesn’t outstay its welcome.

Stonehouse screens Tuesday January 17 on BritBox.