''Reg'' is a one-off

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

fact-based drama about the campaign by

Reg Keys Reginald Thomas Keys (born 1952) is the father of a British serviceman killed in the Iraq War. He stood in the 2005 general election as an anti-war independent candidate for in Sedgefield, a constituency held by the then Prime Minister, Tony Bl ...

to obtain answers following the death of his son Tom in the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

, by standing in the 2005 general election as an anti-war independent candidate in

Sedgefield Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham. History Roman A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered by C ...

, a

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

held by the then

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

Production

Keys was portrayed by

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-nominated actor

Tim Roth Timothy Simon Roth (born 14 May 1961) is an English actor and producer. He began acting on films and television series in the 1980s. He was among a group of prominent British actors of the era, the "Brit Pack (actors), Brit Pack". He made hi ...

and the programme was scripted by

Jimmy McGovern James Stanley McGovern (born September 1949) is an English screenwriter and producer. He is best known for creating the drama series '' Cracker'' (1993–1995), for which he received two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. He als ...

. Talking on BBC radio programme '' Front Row'' in June 2016 about creating the drama, McGovern said: "I first thought about it over 8 years ago and I went down to see Reg and I tried to start it, but for some reason I just couldn't seem to start it. But it was always at the back of my mind: 'I know I've got to tell this man's story'". Of his main protagonist, McGovern has said "It was an honour to meet Reg Keys. He is a truly remarkable man, and it has been a privilege to tell this part of his story."

Cast

The cast of ''Reg'' included: *

Anna Maxwell Martin Anna Maxwell Martin (born Anna Charlotte Martin; 27 May 1977),Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1984–2006 listed birth name as ''Anna Charlotte Martin''; Registration year 1977; Registration District Beverley, Yorkshire som ...

as Sally Keys *

Elliott Tittensor Elliott John Tittensor (born 3 November 1989) is an English actor, best known for playing the role of Carl Gallagher in the Channel 4 comedy-drama series '' Shameless'' (2004–2013). Career Elliott Tittensor and his twin brother, Luke, appea ...

as Richard Keys *

Ralph Brown Ralph William John Brown (born 18 June 1957) is an English actor and writer, known for playing Danny the drug dealer in ''Withnail and I'', the security guard Aaron (a.k.a. "85") in ''Alien 3'', DJ Bob Silver in ''The Boat That Rocked'' aka ' ...

Bob Clay Robert Alan Clay (born 2 October 1946), known as Bob Clay, is a left-wing politician and former Labour MP in the United Kingdom. Early life Robert Clay was educated at Bedford School and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Unusually for a ...

Zac Fox Zac is a masculine given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Zachary or Zechariah. It may refer to: People: * Zac Alexander (born 1989), Australian professional squash player * Zac Brooks (born 1993), American National Football League play ...

as Tom Keys * Charlie Anson as Major Bryn Parry Jones *

David Westhead David William Logan Westhead (born 1 June 1963) is an English actor. Early life Westhead was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire. He studied drama at Bristol University before going on to RADA, from where he graduated in 1987, after which he joine ...

's minder * David Yelland as

Martin Bell Martin Bell, (born 31 August 1938) is a British UNICEF (UNICEF UK) Ambassador, a former broadcast war reporter and former independent politician who became the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton from 1997 to 2001. He is sometimes known as " ...

Tim Bentinck Timothy Charles Robert Noel Bentinck, 12th Earl of Portland, Count Bentinck und Waldeck Limpurg, (born 1 June 1953), commonly known as Tim Bentinck, is an English actor and writer, known for his long-running role as David Archer in the BBC ...

Frederick Forsyth Frederick McCarthy Forsyth (born 25 August 1938) is an English novelist and journalist. He is best known for thrillers such as ''The Day of the Jackal'', ''The Odessa File'', '' The Fourth Protocol'', '' The Dogs of War'', ''The Devil's Alter ...

Kevin Doyle Kevin Edward Doyle (born 18 September 1983) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a forward. He played for Wexford F.C. (formerly Wexford Youths), St Patrick's Athletic, and Cork City in his homeland before he moved to Eng ...

as Returning Officer The Male Voice Choir featured in the choir rehearsal scene and in the funeral scene were Cor Meibion Y Fflint / Flint Male Voice Choir

Awards and nominations

Critical reception

In ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' Jasper Rees found ''Reg'' to be "a meticulous autopsy of a vast insult to the British body politic", noting "McGovern knows where to find the drama in stories of private grief battling institutional indifference" and adding "This was a quiet portrait of simmering rage, sometimes a bit too quiet. ��The Keys' Brummie "

Brummie The Brummie dialect, or more formally the Birmingham dialect, is spoken by many people in Birmingham, England, and some of its surrounding areas. "Brummie" is also a demonym for people from Birmingham. It is often erroneously used in referring to ...

" is a

demonym A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...

for Birmingham; Keys was from nearby

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe i ...

. stoicism was the cause of much understated acting – Roth was doggedly undemonstrative, Maxwell Martin temperate and reserved." Writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'',

Lucy Mangan Lucy Katherine Mangan''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' (born 1974) is a British journalist and author. She is a columnist, features writer and TV critic for ''The Guardian''. A major part of her writing is related t ...

began by saying "I don't know where

gets the emotional energy or resilience from, I really don't" before judging that "There wasn't a weak moment in the film". Mangan found

"as quietly stellar as always" and that "Roth was extraordinary as a man scoured out by grief and left with only a single purpose to pursue. Implacable, purged of all need or desire for lesser considerations or emotions by his loss, he gave us a man and a performance boiled down to its very essence. There is nothing more honestly, nakedly powerful or moving. Thank you."

References

External links

Official BBC page
*
Official Flint Male Voice Choir Page
{{Jimmy McGovern British docudrama films 2016 films 2010s political drama films British political drama films Films directed by David Blair (director) 2010s British films 2010s English-language films