Party Animals

Episode 1

Episode #1.1

50 mins

Under pressure Labour Minister Jo Porter takes a verbal beating in the Commons from Tory counterpart James Northcote as she announces a new policy on youth crime. How has he anticipated Jo's statement with such killer ripostes? And where has he got all those figures? The answer can be found back in Jo's parliamentary office, where her loyal researcher Danny Foster watches the debacle unfold in total despair. He left the report in a pub toilet. Meanwhile, Tory duo Ashika Chandiramani and Matt Baker cannot hide their glee at Jo's humiliation - Matt stole the report from the pub. But Ashika has other things on her mind, not least how to manage her affair with her married boss, James Northcote, who, distracted by in-fighting with his old-school Tory boss, George Morgan, seems to be getting cold feet. Across Westminster, Danny's older brother, Scott, has been charged with making new Tory contacts to secure a big new contract for his lobby firm. Thanks to his manipulative boss, he is competing for the prospective account with Jake, his hedonistic friend and flatmate. Scott blags a lunch with James, thanks to one of his on-off sexual partners, Sophie Montgomery, a Tory journalist. But a scurrilous rumour forces the MP to miss lunch and he sends Ashika in his place. When Scott wins the account Jake gets drunk, confronts him, stumbles into the road and is hit by a car and killed.