Michael Sheen proved so memorable as Tony Blair in “The Queen” you wouldn’t blink if he appeared on the BBC to give a speech in character.

Turns out it wasn’t the first time the actor stepped inside the former Prime Minister’s shoes. In “The Deal,” Sheen plays a younger, hungrier Blair in the years before the Labor Party regained power. The film originally aired on British television four-plus years ago, but the production values and acting scream big screen.

The big draw here, however, isn’t just Sheen’s uncanny performance. David Morrissey, who I first saw scrapping with Sharon Stone in “Basic Instinct 2,” creates a memorably precise version of current Prime Minister Gordon Brown. It’s the tougher role to play, but Morrissey more than nails it.

I review “The Deal,” out today on DVD, over at Donne Tempo.

(Photo: Michael Sheen and David Morrissey play dueling British politicians in “The Deal,” now out on DVD)