Tony Benn: Will and Testament

Tony Benn’s death in March this year brought the curtain down on a life lived with an unceasing interest and involvement in politics. A grandee of the left and true believer to the end: “Like my father, I grow more left as I grow older.”

Benn, pipe clamped inimitably between his lips, took on a particularly avuncular role in British public life in his final years. Tony Benn: Will and Testament captures Benn at the end of his life through a series of intimate interviews as Benn is followed across the country “bearing witness to major social and political upheavals and events.” Accompanying the interviews is a trove of archive photographs and footage from Benn’s life: his Oxford days, the Second World War, as well as the miner’s strikes.

Be prepared for a slightly saccharine depiction: the makers describe Benn as “the most popular UK politician of all time.” And yet, rose-tint aside, Tony Benn: Will and Testament promises to be a powerful commemoration of one of Britain’s most recognisable politicians