The Nearly Man

Episode 2

S1.E1 ∙ Opportunity: March 1975

Christopher Collinson entered Parliament in 1958 as a talented, ambitious young man. Now, frustrated and cynical after seventeen years on the back benches, he still wants - and even expects - power; a personal tragedy reveals that the opportunity has not entirely disappeared.

Episode 3

S1.E2 ∙ Power Base: April 1975

Collinson seeks out the political limelight, but Alice finds his renewed political ambition difficult to come to terms with. Meanwhile, in the constituency there is a growing feeling that a clash is inevitable.

Episode 4

S1.E3 ∙ Millie: May 1975

As Collinson concentrates on the intensifying Common Market campaign, he is almost taken unawares by events in his constituency. Then, at a routine political meeting, he meets a young university teacher. Her name is Millie Dutton...

Episode 5

S1.E4 ∙ Reshuffle: June 1975

While Collinson awaits the outcome of a cabinet reshuffle that will decide his political future, Alice, living apart from him in the Shropshire countryside, is expecting a visit from her friend, novelist Brian Griffin.

Episode 6

S1.E5 ∙ Confrontation: July 1975

It's more than two months since Chris and Alice Collinson have seen each other ; a long standing engagement now brings them into contact. It is not the only confrontation in store for Collinson, as the antagonism between himself and Ron Hibbert takes a new and unexpected turn.

Episode 7

S1.E6 ∙ Casualties: August 1975

Bernard King, local party chairman, attempts to heal the growing rift between Collinson and his opposition. Criticism of his conduct as an MP reaches a peak, and the confrontation between himself and Ron Hibbert comes to a climax.

Episode 8

S1.E7 ∙ Options

"My error has been my scepticism. I've not actually believed in politics as a way of life" An admission that recently led Chistopher Collinson into a battle in his constituency - a battle that he thought he had won. But has he? Meanwhile, on the eve of the party conference, there is an uneasy alliance between Collinson and his wife.