Michael Sheen stars in surreal new political drama Nye – review
The story of Nye Bevan is perhaps not all that well known – many will have heard of him as the ‘father of the NHS’, the Labour health minister who introduced the bill legislating for universal health care, free at the point of use.
For those who don’t know anything else about the man, Nye fills in many of the blanks – recounted as a series of memories from his death bed (he had attended one of his own hospitals to have a stomach ulcer removed, but doctors discovered advanced cancer while operating on him), we find out a whole lot about the life and times of Nye Bevan and the people who were close to him.
We are given snapshots into his school days, his time working in the mines, early forays into local politics, his initial speeches in parliament, opposing the government during the war and his career as a cabinet minister, including fraught negotiations with the doctors and their union.
Michael Sheen is excellent in the role – fiery when required, he is otherwise affable and unassuming, and even quite playful and humorous when initially wooing his future wife, the MP Jennie Lee (Sharon Small).
