Hall. Brocket Hall and the Loseley Park mansion doubled as Chequers, the Prime Minister's country retreat. Scenes set in the Oval Office were filmed on a set built on E Stage at Pinewood Studios. E Stage also housed a recreation of the White House gardens and colonnade outside the Oval Office. Several other locations were used, in conjunction with the UK Film Council's regional agencies Film London, Screen East, and Screen South. Loncraine continued directing pick-ups into October; background scenes were shot in Washington, D.C. on locations including Pennsylvania Avenue and Constitution Avenue. During post-production, cinematographer Barry Ackroyd created two versions of the film with different aspect ratios; one has a 16:9 aspect for broadcast on HBO in the United States, and the other has a 1: 2.35 aspect for worldwide theatrical release. After filming the cinema version in the larger format, Ackroyd trimmed the picture for the television version using a pan and scan technique. The film's score was composed by Alexandre Desplat, who also worked on the music for The Queen. Final post-production mixing was carried out at Twickenham Film Studios, and was scheduled for completion in the second week of March 2010. Release In the United States and Canada, HBO first broadcast the film on May 29, 2010. Roadshow Films released the film theatrically in Australia on August 5, 2010 after acquiring the rights at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. The film debuted at eighth position at the box office in its opening weekend, taking $169,214. BBC Two broadcast the film in the United Kingdom on September 18, 2010, as part of a drive to screen more BBC Films productions on the station. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK on September 20, 2010. Critical reception The film received positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 86% out of 21 professional critics gave the film a positive review, with a rating average of 6.8/10. Metacritic gave it a rating of 67 and stated it has received "generally favorable reviews". Accolades References External links The Special Relationship at HBO.com 2010 television films 2010 films BBC Film films British biographical films British drama films Films about Bill Clinton Cultural depictions of Hillary Clinton Cultural depictions of Tony Blair Films set in 1992 Films set in 1994 Films set in 1998 Films set in 1999 Films set in 2000 Films set in 2001 HBO