It’s been an interesting week for Brexit, the HBO/Channel 4 comedy-drama chronicling the anarchic and controversial 2016 political campaign that saw Britain vote to leave the European Union.
Not only did the acclaimed TV film pick up an Emmy nomination, but its central controversial subject, the Leave campaign’s largely unknown director Dominic Cummings, has now been named a key advisor to new U.K. prime minister (and another central Leave figure), Boris Johnson.
Played by Benedict Cumberbatch — who donned a balding wig and scruffy and untucked shirt for the role — Cummings is painted in the drama as the strategy mastermind lurking in the shadows behind Johnson and Nigel Farage.
Cummings’ appointment as one of Johnson’s key advisors will likely raise several eyebrows given the investigations into the Leave campaign since the Brexit vote. A committee of politicians found him in contempt of Parliament four months ago over his refusal to give oral evidence to another group investigating false news stories during the referendum campaign.
