Category: TV
Drama
Date: 26.08.2005
Printable version
Roly Keating, Controller of Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ TWO, today announced the commission of Coup!,
a one-off film about Simon Mann's failed attempt to overthrow the Equatorial
Guinea government.
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Coup!, written by John Fortune (Bremner,
Bird and Fortune), one of Britain's leading satirists, is a story of
audacity, incompetence and betrayal.
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The film provides a shocking - and sometimes bemusing
- insight into the true story of how Simon Mann found himself betrayed,
arrested, and confined to an African jail following his involvement
in the coup.
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It charts the fortunes of Simon, Nick Du Toit and their
hand-picked crew of mercenaries, and explains why Mark Thatcher, son
of the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, became involved
and arrested.
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Coup! is also a story about the new South Africa, a
country that cannot be seen to support the overthrow of a fellow black
African leader.
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It is about money, greed and how a country rich in oil
will always become the centre of the world's attention.
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Roly Keating says: "The attempted coup in Equatorial
Guinea is a remarkable story that gripped the British public as it just
seemed too incredible to be true!
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"John Fortune's razor-sharp wit will expertly draw
out the absurdity of what was a terribly serious situation. I'm keen
to have more strongly authored, contemporary dramas on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ TWO and I
think this will hit the mark for the channel's audience."
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John says of his portrayal of Simon's final adventure:
"The purpose of the film is not to vilify or be unsympathetic to
Simon's situation.
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"I hope Coup! will be seen as an absurd and funny
insight into what makes a man risk everything for one last dangerous
adventure: to try and overthrow a government."
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Executive Producer, Jess Pope, adds: "This is a
story of a plot of astonishing audacity.
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"A small coterie of well-connected, white, middle-class
Englishmen were arrogant enough to believe they could storm in and plunder
the rights to the oil reserves of a minor African dictatorship (EG)
in a 'get rich quick' scheme to shore up their own private pensions.
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"What they hadn't reckoned on was the coming of
age of the new, anti-mercenary South Africa."
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Filming on location in South Africa will commence in
November and it is due for transmission in 2006.
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The director is Simon Cellan Jones (Sherlock Holmes
and The Case Of The Silk Stocking, Storm Damage). Executive producers
are Jessica Pope (Archangel, When I'm Sixty-Four, The Project) and Alex
Holmes (Dunkirk, Every Time You Look At Me, Flesh and Blood), and the
producer is Jo Wright (55 Degrees North, Othello, Buried Treasure).
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Coup! adds to the extending slate of one-off plays
commissioned for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ TWO including Magnificent
Seven, Riot at the
Rite and Sound
Proof.
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Notes to Editors
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Following his arrest, Simon denied any involvement
with a coup but was charged with weapons offences.
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He is currently serving a four-year sentence in Chikurubi
prison, Zimbabwe.
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Mark Thatcher pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that
money he invested wasn't used for the purposes of a coup.
