The Special Relationship is a 2010 biographical drama television film directed by Richard Loncraine and written by Peter Morgan.

However, Morgan excluded the Bush scenes from subsequent drafts (thus ending the narrative on 20 January 2001) because he found the Blair/Clinton dynamic more interesting.

The film is set between the years of 1997 and 2001 and depicts the UK–US Special Relationship between Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bill Clinton.

Executive producer Christine Langan said of the plot, "The film's time frame goes from 1994, when New Labour was taking lessons from Clinton's people, to 1998 and the end of the Kosovo War.

They're brothers in arms, but Clinton is weakened by the Lewinsky scandal in the middle of it all, while Blair strengthens his position, moving from being something of an acolyte to equal to moral superior, post-Kosovo.

The Deal's critical success led to a theatrical film, The Queen (2006), about the impact of the death of Princess Diana on senior members of the Royal Family and Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The film featured Sheen as Blair in a supporting role, in what critics noted was a more subdued portrayal than in The Deal.

[12][21] Before Morgan began writing the script for The Special Relationship in late 2007, there was speculation that the film would be produced by Left Bank Pictures and BBC Films, where the Deal and Queen producers Andy Harries and Christine Langan were based; Langan told guardian.co.uk in October 2007 that Morgan had "promised" the script to her and Harries, though no contracts had been signed.

[12] Harries said that Morgan believed the transition from Clinton's to Bush's presidency was a "pivotal moment" in the special relationship.

[23] Morgan decided to narrow down the scope of the film to just Blair and Clinton, since he believed people tended to have forgotten about the state of politics prior to the September 11 attacks, a time that was "really, really interesting".

[19] Morgan began his research into the Blair/Clinton relationship after learning that the two had been alone together when Al Gore conceded defeat after the 2000 presidential election.

[2] Final post-production mixing was carried out at Twickenham Film Studios, and was scheduled for completion in the second week of March 2010.