Brand new drama probing the enduring, complex and often tense relationship between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown - an affiliation which stands at the heart of the Labour party and which forms one of the most significant political partnerships of recent years.

Since 1997, these two men have determined British politics, both domestic and foreign. It has been an unprecedented double act. Cabinet ministers speak in awed terms of a marriage of minds. Of an unspoken understanding and respect.

Gordon runs everything past Tony. Tony greenlights nothing without Gordon's blessing. So why the legendary resentment? Why the enduring rivalry? And why now? Why has this tension escalated so recently, six and a half years after reaching power?

The Deal explores how the partnership between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown embodies the contradictions inherent in the modern Labour Party. By uniting, the pair  were to make their party electable for the first time in a generation, only to face one further reality: only one of them could lead it.

This timely return to television for one of the UK's leading directors, Stephen Frears, marks the first time that Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have been portrayed in a television drama.

The Deal was written by Peter Morgan (Henry VIII, The Jury, Metropolis) and stars David Morrissey (State of Play, Captain Corelli's Mandolin) as Gordon Brown and Michael Sheen (Bright Young Things, Four Feathers, Underworld) as Tony Blair.

Interview with director Stephen Frears

Interview with writer Peter Morgan