Peter Kosminsky Remembers… The Project

Overview

As a new Labour government settles into power with a huge majority under Keir Starmer, director Peter Kosminsky considers this an ideal time to revisit and reflect on the lessons to be learned from his 2002 BBC drama The Project. The two-part series told the fictional story of the MPs and activists behind Tony Blair’s election victory in 1997 and focused on their challenges, love affairs and personality clashes that were all a vital part of the Labour Party’s success at the ballot boxes after years stuck in opposition. The Project featured an exciting young cast that included future stars like Matthew Macfadyen and Naomie Harris, and here Peter looks back on casting them as well as exploring why this was the particular story that he chose to tell and the importance of the show’s much-missed screenwriter, the late Leigh Jackson.