Rory Bremner’s John Major impression was so good it sparked a government investigation.
The comedian spoofed the then-Prime Minister in 1993 when he prank called MPs pretending to be the Conservative politician, and there were even fears Chancellor Kenneth Clarke could have been tricked into leaking budget details.
Michael Grade – Channel 4’s chief executive at the time – was called by Cabinet Secretary Sir Robin Butler over the concerns, which focused not on the impression itself, but on how good it actually was.
Explaining the call, Grade told the ‘Media Masters’ podcast: "He said, ‘Mr Grade, we have a bit of a problem. Your Mr Rory Bremner. He’s very good at impersonating the Prime Minister, Mr Major. He’s been ringing MPs, pretending to be John Major.
"’We don’t have a problem with that,’ he said. ‘But the issue we have is that, he’s so good, he could ring the Chancellor of the Exchequer and get the Budget.’
"I said, ‘Oh, I get the point. Leave it with me. I’ll call you tomorrow.’ "
In the end, Rory’s team agreed not to air the call, and the impressionist recently opened up on how the drama unfolded.
He said: "We hadn’t got a script, we were just making it up. Anyway, it went very well, but then something weird happened.
"The word got out in the Cabinet Office because somebody said, ‘I have had this call from John Major,’ and so the Cabinet Secretary, Robin Butler, was put in charge of an enquiry.
"He rang up Richard Body and said, ‘Did you get a call from John Major? It wasn’t John Major.’
"[Richard] said, ‘Oh no, I think it was, I think I’d know if it wasn’t John Major!’
"They had to find out because John Major said, ‘Well you know this is very funny, but it could get quite serious.’ "
Rory Bremner’s amazing John Major impression sparked government investigation
