United Queendom is a short series of four webisodes, explaining the issue of the 2014 Scottish National Referendum
by anthropomorphising England and Scotland as the gay couple Adrian and Scott. Scott has had enough of his relationship with England, who constantly condescends him, and, upon discovering he can produce oil in his bathtub, seriously starts giving thought to leaving England.
You can watch the first episode here.
This series contains of:
- Allegory. Or possibly Roman à Clef.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Mild example. After his expressed dedication to declaring his independence, in the last episode he finally starts thinking about the good times he’s had with Adrian too, and struggles to make up his mind.
- Camp Gay: Adrian, to a limited extent.
- Condescending Compassion: This attitude Adrian has towards Scott is basically what kicks off the plot.
- Dinner and a Show: Scott invites their neighbour, the Scandinavian Model, for dinner. Adrian thinks fairly little of her, thinking she is incredibly boring and that she and Scott are naïve, and repeatedly challenges her with questions about her policies, making the whole event very tense.
- Escalating War: Episode 2, after Scott starts talking about independence. First, Adrian divides their possessions, leaving Scott with relatively little. Later he arranges for his position in their prestigious club (a metaphor for the EU, apparently) to become questionable. Then Scott does the same for Adrian’s own prestigious club (a metaphor for the UN Security Council).
- Incredibly Lame Pun: Adrian, who manages the couples’ finances, jokingly remarks, ‘Somebody has to wear the trousers in this relationship.’ Scott, annoyed and somewhat offended, gets up and walks away, revealing that he’s wearing a kilt. Adrian insists that it was just a joke, and a good one at that.
- Like an Old Married Couple: Scott and Adrian have been this for ‘what feels like centuries’. Obviously, the series’ basic premise is somewhat of a subversion.
- Meaningful Name: ‘Scott’ for Scotland’s representation and ‘Adrian’ for England’s. Adrian actually sets up ‘Adrian’s Wall’ in the eponymous ep. 2.
- Meat Versus Veggies: Scott tries to offer the Scandinavian Model some haggis, and Adrian tries to offer her pork pies, but she declines both because of her vegetarianism, which she adopted for environmental reasons.
- Multiple Endings: There are three different endings to the series: the first has Scott choosing to split up, and giving a monologue about how he’s scared and excited and will stay close friends with Adrian; the second has Scott choosing to stay with Adrian, followed by a monologue by Adrian about how this means he will have to take a better look at himself and just see what the future holds for them; and the third is just an apology by the creators for wasting their viewers’ time.
- Nations as People: Scott is (naturally) Scotland, Adrian is England. Also the EU and the UN (which aren’t actually shown on screen), and ‘the Scandinavian Model’, which is a blonde woman representing Scandinavia in general.
- On the Next: Those sum up the following episode, though not necessarily with footage therefrom.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: The Scandinavian Model.
- Perfect Pacifist People: The Scandinavian Model. Scott is very interested in her pacifism, free education, extensive charity work, and dedication to environmentalism, while Adrian thinks it’s fairly naïve and impossible to expect everyone to be able to afford it.
- Precision F-Strike: Having been visibly irritated for the whole first episode, when Adrian combines his Condescending Compassion with a joke about Scott’s kilt (‘Someone needs to wear the trousers in this relationship!’), Scott gets up and walks away, dropping a bleeped out obscenity.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Adrian is fairly cynical, expressing derision at the Scandinavian Model’s pacifism, to Scott’s dismay.
- Straight Gay: Scott, most of the time, although it’s implied he’s actually bi.
- This Is My Side: After Scott first brings up the issue of independence, Adrian separates their belongings, leaving Scott with relatively little, to demonstrate what it would do to him.
- Title Drop: In the second episode preview.Adrian: He wants to talk about independence?! Tell him he can talk to Adrian’s Wall!
