The Comic Strip, Part 27 - When all logic grows cold and all thinking gets done

"GLC" - February 15th, 1990

London, like many large cities, is a megapolis made up of a number of smaller entities that have joined together to make a more efficient whole. From 1964 to 1986, metropolitan London was governed by the Greater London Council. Perhaps the best known leader of the GLC was a gentleman named Ken Livingstone, who, as I understand it, leans a bit to the left of the political spectrum.


Perhaps more than a little bit.

As I write this I notice that Livingstone is making headlines in America for calling the US ambassador to Britain a "chiseling little crook." I love it when these things come together.

At the end of The Strike there is a throwaway joke about how the next film that gets the over the top "Hollywood" treatment would be the GLC, and here it is. Robbie Coltrane is Charles Bronson as Ken Livingstone, doing battle over the hearts of London with Jennifer Saunders' Margaret Thatcher. As before, a lot of the details are mucked with to the point that I have no clue what bits are real events slightly skewed, or made up out of cliches. For example, I'm not sure how much reality the meet-cute relationship with Dawn French as Cher as Livingstone's single mom/neighbor is based on.

One interesting side note is Peter Richardson as Tony Benn (as portrayed by Lee Van Cleef). Here is a post that I noticed a little while ago about Mr. Benn. Once again, it all comes together.

And this time the soundtrack is by Kate Bush. She sings the theme to the Greater London Council. I really want there to be a soundtrack album.