Yes, it\u2019s a documentary on a sobering topic. But when you\u2019ve got an endless stream of blockbuster names spouting irresistible gossip \u2013 plus Nigel Farage being a total panto dame \u2013 you can\u2019t help but have a ball<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s get one thing straight immediately: no documentary about Brexit should be this much of a hoot. The dread many felt when the referendum result came in \u2013 a fear that reactionary populism was on the rise and Britain was entering an era of managed decline \u2013 has only bloomed like mould in the intervening decade. Brexit was the source of much inadvertent comedy, of course, but to see it treated so irreverently en masse does leave a bit of a bad taste. Laughing at a YouTube compilation of politicians accidentally saying breakfast instead of Brexit? Fine. Chortling along with Nigel Farage as he reminisces about tensions between Dominic Cummings and Arron Banks? Tittering as Boris Johnson blathers about losing a tennis match to David Cameron during which the prime minister tried to secure his support for remain? No thanks.<\/p>\n
Still, there is something extremely difficult to resist about Brexit: A Very British Civil War, a talking head-heavy chronicle of the period between the 2015 general election and the referendum itself. Rather than get bogged down in po-faced sincerity or hand-wringing about integrity (like the remain campaign!), it deals almost exclusively in attention-grabbing bombast (like the leave campaigns!). From the off we\u2019re blasted with Brexit-flavoured juice. Vote Leave bosses \u201cdidn\u2019t really want to win\u201d, says Farage. Johnson\u2019s position had \u201cnothing to do with the EU,\u201d says George Osborne. \u201cIt was Game of Thrones.\u201d Johnson denies this, stifling a smile. \u201cEverybody says I did this in order to be PM. I would have become prime minister anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/4cf97002966184c957824e3d8b9bdcb0a7017736\/0_0_3816_3053\/master\/3816.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=f5438dce1bc589edcf60a285d88eaf7a\" "\\"Brexit:")
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