A Very British Coup - Differences Between Novel and TV

Differences Between Novel and TV

The endings of the novel and the television version are significantly different. In the novel the Prime Minister is ultimately forced from office following a catastrophic nuclear accident at an experimental nuclear plant that he had pushed for during his role as Secretary of State for Energy during a previous government (the most explicit parallel between Harry Perkins and Tony Benn in the novel).

In the TV version, the Prime Minister is presented with forged evidence of financial irregularity following a short running affair, with the suggestion that he should resign rather than see the story made public. He agrees to make a resignation speech on live TV, but instead announces the attempted blackmail to the world along with a new election. Senior army officers watch in silence. The final sequence, on the morning of the election, is deliberately ambiguous, but implies that the military is about to stage a full-blown coup against the Perkins government.