'The Death of Stalin' writer David Schneider pens pilot episode for Channel 4's 'Kompromat' (exclusive)

David Schneider has penned the pilot episode of Channel 4’s Kompromat.

The miniseries is based on I’m A Celebrity star Stanley Johnson’s satirical novel of the same name and was optioned by the broadcaster last year.

Johnson confirmed to Yahoo Movies that Schneider – who wrote last year’s The Death of Stalin – had submitted the first draft a couple of months ago, but the former MEP (and father of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson) is anxious for development to progress as Channel 4 is already in production with another Brexit-related series starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

“Kompromat really is quite a fun satirical, topical book and I hope that things move along rapidly,” he said.

Stanley Johnson wrote the book the miniseries is based on

Noho Productions brokered the TV deal with Channel 4 and co-founder Robert Wulff-Cochrane confirmed that the script is still in paid development with the broadcaster.

The book is set in 2016 and gives a fictionalised account of what was going on behind the scenes of both the EU Referendum and US presidential campaign, though the names of the key players have been changed.

Here’s the book’s synopsis:

2016. The world is on the brink of crisis. In Britain, the British Prime Minister is fighting a referendum he thought couldn’t be lost. In the USA, brash showman, Ronald Craig is fighting a Presidential Election nobody thought he could win.

In the USSR, Igor Popov, the Russian President, is using both events as part of his plan to destabilise the West. Three men who could change the course of the world forever.

Aside from The Death of Stalin, Schneider has written for British TV series Josh, The Day Today and Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge.

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