Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

This comedy duo should be on Netflix: General Secretary reviewed

Plus: a classy and enjoyable new play about the life of one of the thieves crucified alongside Jesus

General Secretary is a brilliant show that deserves to be re-shot on a heavyweight budget 
issue 17 April 2021

General Secretary is a new drama with a dull title and an off-putting poster. A pair of angry women in sombre clothing glare into the middle distance.

But the satirical premise is intriguing. What if two young females with no experience took over the world? Georgie and Cassie are working from home when they receive a mysterious message from the United Nations. A pushy German blonde appears on their screens and makes an announcement: ‘You vill now be presiding over ze vorld.’ That’s it.

And so they take control from their kitchen. The first surprise is that the newly empowered sisters don’t set about exposing the faults of male-dominated governments. Instead they panic and fret like a couple of giddy airheads. How can they run the planet smoothly when they don’t know the names of all the countries? They mug up on world events by reading heavyweight authors like George Orwell and, hilariously, Terry Eagleton.

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