The Queen (2006)

In 2003, director Stephen Frears and writer Peter Morgan collaborated on The Deal, a teleplay about Tony Blair's run to head the Labour Party; this docudrama serves as a sort of sequel. ''Real life has become rather interesting,'' explains Frears (High Fidelity) about his fixation on historical truth. ''Stories kind of pale by comparison.'' And so we have Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II and Michael Sheen reprising his role as Blair in a look at how Britain's leaders spent the week after Princess Diana died. ''The whole episode was so dramatic,'' Frears says in his understated British way. ''It brought out startling things in people's characters.''