''Last Rights'' is a British television political thriller drama, written by Clive Bradley and directed by Bill Anderson, which first aired on Channel 4. Despite the subject matter, all three episodes were broadcast back-to-back from 9am on 24 March 2005, as part of a strand of programming aired towards the run-up to the

2005 UK General Election The 2005 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 5 May 2005, to elect 646 members to the House of Commons. The Labour Party, led by Tony Blair, won its third consecutive victory, with Blair becoming the second Labour leader afte ...

. The series stars

Philip Glenister Philip Haywood Glenister (born 10 February 1963) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as DCI Gene Hunt in the BBC series ''Life on Mars'' (2006–2007) and its sequel '' Ashes to Ashes'' (2008–2010). He also played DCI William ...

as John Speers, a spin-doctor and right-hand man to the newly elected prime minister, Richard Wheeler ( Charles Dance), who tries to prevent the leak of potentially sensitive confidential information when his laptop is stolen by a young tearaway. The series also co-starred

Ashley Walters Ashley Walters may refer to: * Ashley Walters (actor) (born 1982), English rapper and actor * Ashley Walters (artist) (born 1983), South African artist {{Hndis, Walters, Ashley ...

, Iddo Goldberg,

Stephen Graham Stephen Joseph Graham (born 3 August 1973) is a British actor. He is best known for playing Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne in the film ''This Is England'' (2006) and its television sequels ''This Is England '86'' (2010), '' This Is England '88'' ( ...

and Colin McFarlane. Aside from a single rerun during the T4 strand of programming in 2006, the series has never been repeated since and has never been released on DVD. Due to the timeslot of broadcast, no viewing figures were recorded for any of the three episodes.

Plot

London, 2009. Voter apathy is at an all-time high in the United Kingdom, and a new right-wing political party, The Democratic Consensus Party, led by Richard Wheeler, have just been voted into office. Unbeknownst to the public, the DCP have a sinister hidden agenda to do away with democracy and turn the country into a police state. John Speers panics when just days after being appointed as Wheeler's right-hand-man and spin-doctor, his laptop is stolen by Tariq, a young tearaway. Concerned that the laptop contains potentially sensitive and confidential information, Speers sets about trying to recover it. Meanwhile, Tariq's best friend, Max is concerned when he suddenly disappears without trace. Max finds himself unwittingly drawn into a dangerous world of corruption and political conspiracy as he goes in search of his missing friend. Max subsequently discovers information which threatens to ruin the government's plans, but will he realise its significance in time?

Cast

as Speers * Charles Dance as Wheeler *

Ashley Walters Ashley Walters may refer to: * Ashley Walters (actor) (born 1982), English rapper and actor * Ashley Walters (artist) (born 1983), South African artist {{Hndis, Walters, Ashley ...

as Max * Kiera Malik as Melissa * Sonnell Dadral as Tariq * Iddo Goldberg as Sol *

as Steve * Colin McFarlane as Don * Mamta Kaash as Shahida * Raquel Cassidy as Nadine *

Francesca Fowler Francesca Fowler (born 1985, Hammersmith, London) is a British actress and screenwriter. She appeared in the 2007 thriller film '' Straightheads'' alongside Gillian Anderson and Danny Dyer, and has also appeared in ''Rome'' HBO, and various BBC TV ...

as Liz * Niall Refoy as Brown * Paul Rattray as Pete * Martin Walsh as Dermot * Anthony Oseyemi as Jameel * Olivia Scott as Zara * Jaimi Barbakoff as Sheryl * Jon Snow as Himself

External links

References

{{reflist 2005 British television series debuts 2005 British television series endings 2000s British drama television series Channel 4 original programming British thriller television series Fiction set in 2009 2000s British television miniseries English-language television shows Television shows set in London