''The Trojan Horse'' is a Canadian

political drama A political drama can describe a play, film or TV program that has a political component, whether reflecting the author's political opinion, or describing a politician or series of political events. Dramatists who have written political dramas i ...

two-part miniseries that first aired on CBC Television on 30 March 2008. It is a sequel to the 2004 miniseries, '' H₂O''. It stars

Paul Gross Paul Michael Gross OC (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian actor, director, writer, producer, and musician born in Calgary, Alberta. Gross is known for his lead role as Constable Benton Fraser in the popular Canadian television series ''Due So ...

Greta Scacchi Greta Scacchi, OMRI (; born 18 February 1960) is an Italian-Australian actress. She holds dual Italian and Australian citizenship. She is best known for her roles in the films '' White Mischief'' (1987), '' Presumed Innocent'' (1990), '' The Pl ...

and

Tom Skerritt Thomas Roy Skerritt (born August 25, 1933) is an American actor who has appeared in over 40 films and more than 200 television episodes since 1962. He is known for his film roles in ''M*A*S*H'', ''Alien'', '' The Dead Zone'', '' Top Gun'', '' A ...

. It was directed by

Charles Binamé Charles Binamé (born May 25, 1949) is a Quebec director. He was born in Belgium and came to Montreal with his family at a young age. He joined the National Film Board of Canada as an assistant director in 1971, but soon left for the private sect ...

Plot

The story begins while a nationwide

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

is being held to decide whether or not Canada will join the United States. The people of Canada vote to join the U.S., while

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 i ...

Tom McLaughlin (

) watches the results on the news. Sitting at the house of former Prime Minister Marc Lavigne (

Guy Nadon Guy Nadon, CM (born August 28, 1952 in Montreal, Quebec) is a French-Canadian actor. Though his most notable English-language role was arguably in '' H2O'', his other works have been in his first language of French. In 2010, he was appointed a M ...

; from '' H₂O''), he plots revenge, stating that one day, he would tell Lavigne the fable of "The Mouse and the Frog". Two years pass, at which point the film resumes. Canada has been split into six states (

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

and Terra Nova), each with electoral votes, and representation in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. The story proceeds to focus on three major storylines: Tom McLaughlin attempting to reshape his political career and ascend to the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

; reporter Helen Madigan (

) uncovering elements of political intrigue as she follows leads into the murder of her estranged son; and U.S. President Stanfield (

) using any means necessary to justify an invasion of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

in order to halt China's oil supply.

Cast

References

External links

CBC Official site (archived)
* 2008 television films 2008 films 2000s Canadian television miniseries English-language Canadian films Canadian drama television films CBC Television original films Canada–United States relations in popular culture Canadian political drama television series Films directed by Charles Binamé 2000s Canadian films {{Canada-tv-film-stub