SEXUAL shenanigans and political intrigue are at the heart of the BBC television drama series Party Animals, which begins filming this week.

The eight-part BBC2 drama, which is scheduled to be broadcast early next year, will look at what really goes on in Westminster, but with the rackety private lives of the MPs and their assistants brought to the fore.

It will star Raquel Cassidy, who appeared in Teachers and Red Cap, as a Labour minister and Patrick Baladi, who played the manager who outmanoeuvred David Brent in The Office, as a Tory shadow minister.

The drama, which is set in the present day, has used some former ministerial advisers for its research and will reflect the latest political ructions. The BBC also asked the writers and the show’s production company, World Productions, for some major changes a few weeks ago in order to portray the changed political scene.

Party Animals was originally intended to concentrate on Labour, but the arrival of David Cameron as Tory leader, and Labour’s leadership problems meant a radical rethink.

“The drama is mainly about people working in politics, but it was rightly felt that it needed to be changed as the Tories had a bright new leader and Labour is being seen in crisis,” said Eleanor Green, the producer.

Though none of the characters is modelled directly on recognisable politicians, the fictional Tory leader and his party are clearly on the up, while the Labour prime minister is facing the end. The Labour minister Jo, once a Party Animals equivalent of a Blair Babe, is shown as wavering in her loyalty to the premier.

The drama also explores cross-party alliances, with an affair between a Labour lobbyist, Scott, played by Andy Buchanan, who is also about to be seen in Jane Eyre on BBC1, and a Tory special adviser, Ashika, played by Shelley Conn.

Sex is a powerful force in Party Animals. Scott’s bother Danny, who is a researcher for the Labour minister, Jo, is having an affair with Kirsty, a young Labour intern.

Plot lines in the drama series, which is written by Ben Richards, best known for Spooks, and Robert Jones, who has penned Cops and The Bill, will include a by-election, which turns very nasty, and the love life of a gay researcher.

The BBC hopes that the series will win over a young audience, who may otherwise pay little attention to politics.

BBC insiders liken the ensemble drama to This Life, a 1990s series that followed the lives of young professionals sharing a flat.

The corporation has asked for changes to Party Animals to reflect the realpolitik of today, partly because it did not want this new series to be compared to The Project.

This two-part drama, which was broadcast in 2003, concentrated on Labour’s backroom staff even though it was set before and after the 1997 election.

The BBC will screen Party Animals after its new licence fee agreement has been settled, probably in December.

BBC sources say the timing has been chosen with an eye to reducing the impact of any backlash from Labour.

A replica of Portcullis House, the £235m bronze-clad Westminster office block for MPs, has been constructed off the M25.

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