Boris Johnson's rise to power to feature in Channel 4 documentary series

Katie Archer
·Contributor
Updated ·2-min read
Prime Minister Boris Johnson departs 10 Downing Street, Westminster, London, to attend his penultimate Prime Minister's Questions at the Houses of Parliament. Picture date: Wednesday July 13, 2022.
Boris Johnson will be the subject of a new documentary. (PA)

Boris Johnson's rise to power is set to be explored in a new Channel 4 documentary series.

As the prime minister's days in Downing Street draw to an imminent end, the new series, Boris, will chart his life from the events that shaped him through to his premiership.

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The four-part series will piece together rare archive footage alongside interviews with friends and foes with intimate knowledge of Johnson to help reveal his true character.

Ian Katz, Channel 4’s chief content officer, said: “However the story of Boris Johnson’s political career ends, he has done more to change Britain and the nature of our politics than any other recent political figure.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson gets stuck on a zip-line during BT London Live in Victoria Park on August 01, 2012 in London, England. Mr. Johnson was a guest at a BT London Live event at the East London park, where visitors can watch the 2012 Olympic Games action on a big screen or try their hand at a range of Olympic sports. Earlier this week a poll of Conservative voters suggested the mayor was their top choice to succeed David Cameron as Prime Minister. (Photo by Kois Miah/Getty Images)
Boris Johnson stuck on a zip-line during his time as Mayor of London. (Getty Images)

“This landmark series will try answer the question of what shaped the boy who wanted to be king of the world and how he grew to believe that he could escape the laws of political gravity.”

Each episode will run at an hour long and the story of Johnson's life will divulge how the seeds of political rivalry began in the corridors of Eton where he beat former prime minister David Cameron to the prestigious role of school captain, and how he sharpened his skills while campaigning for student president at Oxford.

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It will explore his meteoric rise to power, becoming mayor of London and finally achieving his dream job of prime minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

A photograph taken on April 5, 2022 shows the logo of Channel 4 at the TV network headquarters in London, as Britain's government plans to privatise the television channel. - The government plans to privatise Britain's free-to-air public-service television network Channel 4, arguing that it otherwise cannot keep up with streaming giants such as Netflix and Amazon. The company launched in 1982 and its remit involves supporting Britain's independent production sector and producing a unique and diverse range of programmes. The publicly-owned but commercially-funded broadcaster draws 90 percent of its income from advertising. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Channel 4 will air the documentary. (AFP via Getty Images)

David Glover, executive producer for 72 Films who have been commissioned to make the series, added: “This is a major project that we are about to embark on. It will not be polemical – but something that tells his story.

“We aim to make a series that both his supporters and enemies will find fresh and interesting.”

Johnson has resigned as leader of the Conservative Party following a large number of resignations by his own ministers and is due to step down as PM in the autumn - although some parties are pushing for it to happen sooner.

An air date for the documentary is yet to be announced.

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