WITH political tension already in the air ahead of the General Election on May 7, a powerful drama by a Hereford director is set to hit television screens this week and examine the crucial hours leading up to the historic decision made by David Cameron and Nick Clegg to form a government.

BAFTA award winner Alex Holmes has worked on the 90-minute feature length film, ‘Coalition’, which goes out on Channel 4 on Saturday night.

Already having excited a swathe of publicity, it charts the dramatic days leading to the formation of a new government between Tories and Lib Dems in 2010.

‘Coalition’ was to have been aired on Thursday but was rescheduled due to the fact that David Cameron and Ed Milliband are taking part in a live TV question and answer session hosted by Jeremy Paxman. Instead, it will be screened at 9pm on Saturday.

Watching at home in Hereford will be Alex’s father, Colin, who originally moved to Hereford to work for Denco Miller, and his mother, Jennifer.

Like his older brother, Jonathan, Alex went on to win a place at Cambridge after completing his studies at Hereford Cathedral School.

The 47-year-old began his career directing TV investigations, and spent almost 10 years on the current affairs programme, World in Action, for which he won two Royal Television Society awards.

He took on the role of commissioning editor for the BBC2 flagship documentary strand ‘Modern Times’ and went on to edit the BBC 1 documentary strand, Inside Story.

In 2000, he became a creative director in the BBC Documentaries and Investigations’ department but, after producing a number of independent productions, he returned to his first passion, directing in 2004.

He co-wrote ‘Dunkirk’, a three-part World War Two mini series for the BBC, and went on to direct the series for which he was awarded a BAFTA.

He also wrote and directed ‘House of Saddam’ a four-part series for the BBC and US network, HBO, set in Saddam Hussein’s inner circle.

Alex’s father said his son was keen on drama at school.

“He enjoyed a bit of acting, and he was also keen on turning something into a film or a documentary,”

he said. Mr Holmes said his elder son had already watched a private screening of ‘Coalition’, and had given the film a thumbs up.