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By Jessica Goodfellow, Media Reporter

July 18, 2016 | 3 min read

Joe Wade, the managing director of creative agency Don’t Panic, has co-created a TV special for BBC Two riding off the back of the Brexit conversation which sees caricatural characters poking fun at politicians in the build up to the EU vote.

The programme, ‘The Revolution Will Be Televised, Brexageddon?!’ charts the highs and lows of both the Remain and Leave Campaign in the run up to the election via archive footage, with comedy characters Heydon Prowse and Jolyon Rubinstein interacting with the politicians directly.

This includes from the Leave side newly-appointed foreign secretary Boris Johnson and former secretary of state for work and pensions Iain Duncan-Smith, from the Remain side Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn and ex-director of communications and strategy Alistair Campbell.

The audience will find out the public’s mood at the time “through the prism of stunts”, Wade told The Drum, with the comedy characters stereotyped to mirror exaggerated ends of the political spectrum.

One of the stunts involves Rubinstein approaching Boris Johnson on his way to an EU debate at the Google offices in London with a book titled 'Pathological Liar', telling Johnson he is "the Donald Trump of lying" but with "much better hair".

The one-off 30-minute show was written by Don’t Panic’s creatives and has been co-created with production company Hat Trick. It will air on BBC Two on Tuesday (19 July) at 10pm.

The success of Don’t Panic’s own comedy viral and TV content led the founder Joe Wade to set up Don’t Panic as an agency to take insights about what engages audiences online and apply this to brand clients.

Wade said Brexit “hasn’t really changed our pitch” to clients, but Brexit offers a “big opportunity for cause-related charities and brands to ride off the swell of people who want to do something positive, because they have been deeply affected by the result”.

“The 48 per cent are desperate to show their EU neighbours – and beyond – that they are loved. This especially applies to young people - we have seen under-18s protesting outside parliament and Facebook clogged with a political narrative,” Wade added.

Despite this, Wade asserts the aim of the programme is “for entertainment purposes only” and will not push a political side; “There’s no big messages, we just wanted to make fun of everyone”.

Hat Trick EU Referendum Brexit

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