2:28am UK, Friday May 30, 2008

There's a new film in production that may interest George Bush and Tony Blair.

It's a comedy about a phoney war cooked-up by the Prime Minister and the US President.

Sky's Matt Smith

It's the debut film from TV producer Armando Ianucci, the man behind shows like Alan Partridge and The Day Today and is currently shooting in London.

Of course, it's a premise that's too ridiculous to be true - a war whipped up by America that Britain goes along with. But this is of course is a satire, it's completely made up and doesn't have any basis in real events.

Apparently.

"It's all completely fictitious," deadpans Ianucci during a break in filming in north London.

"Nobody at all would ever think of mounting a war for political ends. This is where we're bending the truth towards complete unbelievability," he adds with a straight face.

Then a pause.

"Did I sound sincere?" he laughs.

In The Loop is his first crack at making a feature film. He has of course previously scored hits with TV comedies like news spoof The Day Today and I'm Alan Partridge, which launched the careers of Chris Morris and Steve Coogan.

More recently he's turned his hand to political satire with BBC4's The Thick Of It, which is the basis for this film.

Now he's got a cast headed by Soprano James Gandolfini and a six-week shoot that takes in New York, Washington and London.

"This is the start of week three and we're shooting an enormous amount of material but we're on schedule, so happy so far," says co-producer Kevin Loader.

But what about the script - a political war for political ends?

"Key watchers of the political scene will probably recognise a few things that correspond to certain events in the recent past," he smirks. "We'll have to have a lot of disclaimers," he adds.

Today's location is a multi-million pound house that's doubling for Washington. It's a massive red-brick affair with a swimming pool in the basement that's being hired for the day. The scene is a political party and Gandolfini's holding court in the back garden while the other characters try to listen in on what he's saying.

By wearing a suit and tie to the shoot, I've been offered a part as an extra. I have to stand in the group around Gandolfini and pretend to listen and laugh at what he's saying, while drinking some awful tasting fake beer.

It's a first for me and pretty exciting to start with but after a while it gets a bit repetitive. We do take after take of the same thing. The 'beer' doesn't improve - it just gets warmer as I hold the glass. If I was doing this for real, though, I'd be getting £85.

Cast member Chris Addison chips in with some advice: "Don't look at the camera and wink, that would be the main thing. And if you possibly can, get somebody to speak to you, because you get another £28.

"But you'll have to fight through some pretty dedicated people to get to that. That's a coveted spot."

And he's not wrong.

In a moment that could have come straight out of Ricky Gervais' comedy Extras, I strike up a conversation with one of the other members of my 'standing around' group.

"How long have you been an extra?" I ask.

"I'm not an extra," he responds. "I'm a background artiste."

This may be a comedy but some here are seemingly taking it very seriously.

:: In The Loop will be in cinemas early next year.