Tony Blair and Baroness Thatcher are seen sharing a post-coital cigarette as Labour gets into bed with the Tories in a controversial new TV comedy. The pair can be seen in Channel 4's The Hunt For Tony Blair, in which the two former prime ministers have a fictional fling. Jennifer Saunders plays Baroness Thatcher, dripping with jewels, in the 1950s noir-style spoof, while Stephen Mangan plays Blair, covered in lipstick kisses. The film, to be screened on Friday night at 9pm, has been made by the Comic Strip team and features Mr Blair on the run. Jennifer is reprising her role as the former Tory leader after a previous Comic Strip outing in Red Nose Of Courage back in 1992. Writer and director Peter Richardson wanted her to delve into vintage Hollywood glamour to perfect the role. Jennifer said of her preparations: "Peter has given me a bit of a difficult remit here - 'so it's Bette Davis but watch Sunset Boulevard but also be Margaret Thatcher'. "I've been watching YouTube videos of her, but I find it very difficult to do real dialogue as her voice as it's such a particular sort of voice, it's very strange because it's very soft, then very strident so it's difficult." She spoke warmly of being reunited with her former Comic Strip colleagues, with whom she has worked for three decades. "It feels really lovely, like it used to," she said. And she praised the other actors who had joined the regulars, saying: "Stephen Mangan is brilliant and totally perfect for it. I think it's great that it moves on and we get new talent in, mainly because we are all getting on now so that does limit you."
