Nicola Sturgeon will return to the centre of a national crisis on television tonight, appearing as the UK’s deputy prime minister in a new Sky series imagining a Russian attack.
The former First Minister takes one of the leading roles in The Wargame, an unusual four-part mix of documentary, political simulation and drama which puts real former politicians, military figures and intelligence experts inside a fictional COBR-style crisis room.
Sturgeon serves as deputy to former Conservative cabinet minister Michael Gove, who is installed as the fictional prime minister as the UK is plunged into an escalating confrontation with Russia.
The pairing places two politicians who spent years on opposite sides of the Scottish constitutional debate at the heart of the same fictional government.
Sturgeon has acknowledged that her appearance, including scenes in front of a Union flag, may surprise some viewers in Scotland.
She told Times Radio: “I’m sure there will be lots of eyebrows raised in Scotland when they see me standing in front of a Union Jack.”
She said that appearing in the programme did not represent any change in her support for Scottish independence, describing the production as “television with a purpose”.
The programme begins with a simulated attack on UK soil and then confronts its participants with a succession of news reports, intelligence briefings, military developments and unexpected events.
Sturgeon and Gove are joined in the fictional Cabinet by former Conservative defence secretary Penny Mordaunt as defence secretary, Labour veteran Harriet Harman as home secretary and former Scottish secretary Jim Murphy as foreign secretary.
Former Conservative Party chairman Sayeeda Warsi is attorney general, while Scottish political commentator Ayesha Hazarika takes the role of director of communications.
The wider team includes former British Army commander General Sir Richard Barrons as chief of defence staff, former UK ambassador to the US Kim Darroch as national security adviser and former MI6 officer Christopher Steele as intelligence chief.
Former Nato secretary general and Labour defence secretary George Robertson, who was born in Islay, plays the Nato secretary general, while former Donald Trump communications director Anthony Scaramucci appears as US secretary of state.
The scenario is set six months in the future and was developed with military, defence and academic experts, including Sky News security and defence editor Deborah Haynes. Sky says participants were confronted with minute-by-minute decisions designed to replicate the pressure faced by governments during a major security crisis.
Sturgeon said taking part had reinforced her concerns about the state of the UK’s conventional military capabilities.
She said the programme “shines a light on the threadbare nature of the UK’s conventional defences”, while maintaining her long-standing opposition to nuclear weapons and questioning the emphasis placed on the Trident deterrent.
“The intention of the show is not to scare people, but to make people think,” she said.
The Wargame is based on the Sky News podcast of the same name and has been produced by The Garden, the company behind 24 Hours in Police Custody.
The four hour-long episodes will be shown nightly from tonight (Monday 21 September) until Thursday 24 September on Sky and NOW. The final instalment will be followed by The Wargame: Live, hosted by Cathy Newman, with members of the cast returning to discuss the decisions made during the simulation.