Cultural depictions of Tony Blair

This page is a list of cultural depictions of Tony Blair onstage, in film and in other forms of fiction.

Appearances
Blair made an animated cameo appearance as himself in The Simpsons episode "The Regina Monologues" (2003). He has also appeared as himself at the end of the first episode of The Amazing Mrs Pritchard, a British television series about an unknown housewife becoming prime minister. On 14 March 2007, Blair appeared as a celebrity judge on Masterchef Goes Large after contestants had to prepare a three-course meal in the Downing Street kitchens for Blair and Bertie Ahern. On 16 March 2007, Blair featured in a comedy sketch with Catherine Tate, who appeared in the guise of her character Lauren Cooper from The Catherine Tate Show. The sketch was made for the BBC Red Nose Day fundraising programme of 2007. During the sketch, Blair used Lauren's catchphrase "Am I bovvered?"

Portrayals
Michael Sheen has portrayed Blair three times, in the films The Deal (2003), The Queen (2006), and The Special Relationship (2009). Robert Lindsay portrayed Blair in the TV programme A Very Social Secretary (2005), and reprised the role in The Trial of Tony Blair (2007). He was also portrayed by James Larkin in The Government Inspector (2005), and by Ioan Gruffudd in W. (2008). In the 2006 Channel 4 comedy drama documentary, Tony Blair: Rock Star, he was portrayed by Christian Brassington. He was portrayed by Damian Lewis in the Confessions of a Diary Secretary (2007) and by Toby Stephens in The Journey (2017). Bertie Carvel played Blair in the fifth and sixth seasons of The Crown (2022–23). In 2023, comedian Charlie Baker portrayed Blair in TONY! The Tony Blair Rock Opera, written by Harry Hill.

Blair in fiction and satire
When Blair resigned as prime minister, Robert Harris, a former Fleet Street political editor, dropped his other work to write The Ghost. The CIA-influenced British prime minister in the book is said to be a thinly disguised version of Blair. The novel was filmed as The Ghost Writer (2010) with Pierce Brosnan portraying the Blair character, Adam Lang. Stephen Mangan portrays Blair in The Hunt for Tony Blair (2011), a one-off The Comic Strip Presents... satire presented in the style of a 1950s film noir. In the film, he is wrongly implicated in the deaths of Robin Cook and John Smith and on the run from Inspector Hutton. In 2007, the scenario of a possible war crimes trial for the former British prime minister was satirised by the British broadcaster Channel 4, in a "mockumentary", The Trial of Tony Blair, which concluded with the fictional Blair being dispatched to the Hague.

Television drama and film

 * The Tony Blair Witch Project (2000) – Mike Martinez
 * The Deal (2003) – Michael Sheen
 * The Government Inspector (2005) – James Larkin
 * A Very Social Secretary (2005) – Robert Lindsay
 * The Queen (2006) – Michael Sheen
 * The Amazing Mrs Pritchard (2006) – John Brolly
 * The Alastair Campbell Diaries (2007) – Michael Sheen
 * The Trial of Tony Blair (2007) – Robert Lindsay
 * Confessions of a Diary Secretary (2007) – Damian Lewis
 * W (2008) – Ioan Gruffudd
 * Quantum of Solace (2008) – Mathieu Amalric based his portrayal of Dominic Greene on Blair
 * The Ghost Writer (2010) – Pierce Brosnan plays British prime minister Adam Lang, who is based on Blair
 * The Special Relationship (2010) – Michael Sheen
 * The Journey (2016) – Toby Stephens
 * The Crown (2023) – Bertie Carvel

Satire

 * Spitting Image (1994–1996)
 * Sermon from St. Albion's (1998) – Harry Enfield
 * The Big Impression (2001) – Rory Bremner
 * 2DTV (2001) – Jon Culshaw
 * Jeffrey Archer: The Truth (2002) – Steven Pacey
 * The Simpsons: The Regina Monologues (2004) – Himself in cameo role
 * TONY! The Blair Musical (2007) – James Duckworth
 * Red Nose Day 2007 Catherine Tate Show Sketch (2007) – Himself
 * Dead Ringers (2006–2007) – David Tennant and Jon Culshaw
 * Headcases (2008)
 * The Hunt for Tony Blair (2011) – Stephen Mangan

Literature

 * St Albion Parish News (1997–2007), column in Private Eye
 * Alan Clark Diaries: Volume 3: The Last Diaries 1993–1999 (2002) by Alan Clark
 * Number Ten (2002) by Sue Townsend, in which British prime minister Edward Clare is based on Blair
 * The Blunkett Tapes (2006) by David Blunkett
 * Dan Blair - Pilot For The Foreseeable Future - satirical comic strip in The Times, in the style of 1950s British sci-fi icon Dan Dare
 * The Blair Years (2007) by Alastair Campbell
 * The Ghost by Robert Harris in which the British prime minister Adam Lang is based on Blair
 * A View From The Foothills: The Diaries of Chris Mullin (2009) by Chris Mullin
 * In the Presence of Mine Enemies by Harry Turtledove Charlie Lynton is almost certainly named for Anthony Charles Lynton Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the time of the book's writing. Like Lynton, Blair was born in Edinburgh, but appears more English than Scottish in his speech and bearing. He was also born in the mid-1950s and became party leader in the mid-1990s. However, unlike Lynton, Blair is not a fascist.
 * Stormbreaker (2000) by Anthony Horowitz. The book has a Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who hosts the grand opening of computers for schoolchildren. The book takes place in the year it was published; Blair was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the time.

Radio

 * Independence Day UK (1996) – Actors briefly portray Blair and John Major announcing the creation of a coalition government at the start of the alien invasion from the movie Independence Day
 * The News Huddlines (1997–2001)
 * House 7 (a Russian radio soap) (1997) – Himself in cameo role

Music

 * "Tony Blair" (1999)
 * "Shoot the Dog" (2002)