New photo Brexit drama writer says he came up with the idea after Jo Cox was killed

The writer of a new drama about the Brexit campaign has said he first came up with the idea for the film on the day Labour MP Jo Cox was murdered.

'Brexit: The Uncivil War', which airs on Monday, dramatises the characters and strategies behind the historic 2016 vote, under the tagline: 'Everyone knows who won. But hardly anyone knows how.'

It has received a largely positive reaction from reviewers from both sides of the debate, who praised playwright James Graham for his 'even-handed' approach in creating an 'engrossing second draft of history'.

'Brexit: The Uncivil War', which airs on Monday, dramatises the characters and strategies behind the historic 2016 vote. Pictured is a publicity photo of Benedict Cumberbatch as Dominic Cummings 

Graham said he decided to create the Channel 4 show in June 2016 on hearing of Cox's murder a week before the referendum vote, because he wanted to 'make sense of that summer' and 'what had gone wrong'.

'I'm absolutely not attributing [her murder] to anything we portray,' he told the Guardian. 'But something obviously goes wrong when a political question is asked, and that happens.'

Benedict Cumberbatch plays Vote Leave director Dominic Cummings, who is credited with playing a decisive role spearheading the campaign, particularly through his insistence on a data-driven social media campaign.

The film portrays him as an intense, self-described disruptor, deploying tactics gleaned from Chinese general Sun Tzu's ancient treatise 'The Art of War' and who would retreat to an office cleaning cupboard to war-game his Brexit strategy undisturbed.

Playwright James Graham said he came up with the idea for the show after the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox (pictured in an undated photo) 

Graham's film - which airs just before MPs vote on Theresa May's Brexit deal - was widely praised in the Press.

The Independent said he had written an 'engrossing second half of history' and highlighting the relatively anonymous players who helped influence the campaign.

David Cameron's former spin doctor Craig Oliver said the film was 'well written, acted and produced', although he said it should have made more of a mention of Nigel Farage and his 'exaggerated and irresponsible claims'.

Vote Leaves Matthew Elliot was also positive, writing that the film was 'cathartic and fun'.

Graham has previously said he chose to spotlight the referendum's strategists because they were 'the real decision-makers' and yet 'people you've never really heard of'.

'It became clear to me that (Cummings)... was the most interesting character, because he's the agent of change,' he said.

'You always want a protagonist who makes decisions and there are consequences of those decisions.'

The tactics employed by Brexit campaigners have come under intense scrutiny since the referendum, particularly the use of misleading slogans and targeted political ads.

In July, the Electoral Commission watchdog fined Vote Leave for breaking campaign spending rules.

Boris Johnson (Richard Goulding), Mr Cummings (Cumberbatch) and Michael Gove (Oliver Maltman) are seen in this publicity photo for the film 

Graham said he was eager not to pass judgement on the digital strategies deployed by Brexit supporters as police and official inquiries continue.

'I hope what we're suggesting is not that tech and data is this evil manipulative tool, but that it is now the platforms through which we have our political discourse.'

Graham at an Olivier Awards luncheon in London on March 9 

The characters colourfully portrayed in the film include Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage, two leading Brexit campaigners, as well as businessman Arron Banks, an influential pro-Leave donor who is under investigation over his finances.

Graham's behind-the-scenes account is based on books by Sunday Times political editor Tim Shipman and Craig Oliver, the head of the Remain campaign.

He also interviewed staffers from both camps and managed to win over an initially sceptical Mr Cummings to meet with both him and then Cumberbatch.

'I just had to understandably persuade him it wasn't a stitch-up job,' he said, adding that the actor then spent an evening at the Vote Leave director's home eating falafel and talking until dawn.

The writer added that he was 'baffled' by media reports that Cumberbatch was uncomfortable with how sympathetically Cummings is ultimately portrayed in the finished film.

'Anybody who knows anything about acting knows that you can't inhabit a role unless you can empathise with them - and that was Benedict's chief obsession,' added Graham. 

Mr Johnson and Mr Gove at Vote Leave headquarters with Mr Cummings on June 24, 2016 

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News Pictures Brexit drama writer says he came up with the idea after Jo Cox was killed

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