Do you want the bad news or the bad news? First, the nights are fair drawing in. Second, Nicola Sturgeon will soon be in your living room. Not on the sofa between you and the dog, but on the television screen in Sky One’s The Wargame.

“Set six months in the future,” says the Sky blurb, “the series takes viewers beyond the news cycle and behind closed doors into a sealed COBR-style crisis room where real-world senior politicians, military leaders and intelligence chiefs are challenged to confront a high-stakes scenario: a Russian attack on UK soil.”

Topping the bill of “highly experienced public figures” pretending the end could be nigh are Michael Gove and Ms Sturgeon, playing the PM and deputy PM respectively. Also seeking their four hours of television fame are Penny Mordaunt, Sayeeda Warsi, Harriet Harman, Jim Murphy (yes, really), Lord George Robertson and Anthony Scaramucci. 

It is a nice mix of party allegiances, though the Liberal Democrats, Greens and Reform seem to have been left out in the cold. Seems fair enough. In the event of an invasion, they would probably be too busy singing Kumbaya or liquidating their assets anyway. 

The fact that Labour and Conservative figures are present has not stopped the sniping from their own sides. 

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