The Diplomat loses its prime minister as Rory Kinnear exits in Season 4

Nicol Trowbridge is out. The fictional British prime minister resigns at the end of The Diplomat Season 4 Episode 4, closing Rory Kinnear’s run in the role.

The episode is titled “Pagliacci.” It is the fourth in a season released in full on Netflix on October 15, according to TV Insider.

His exit clears the way for a new leader. Jodie Whittaker plays the United Kingdom’s new prime minister in Season 4, as confirmed in Netflix Tudum.

The resignation follows a rapid collapse. Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison, played by David Gyasi, dies in a helicopter crash one episode earlier. Kate, the American ambassador to the U.K. played by Keri Russell, then blackmails Trowbridge by telling newly appointed Foreign Secretary Robyn Palmer, played by Abigail Marlowe, about the involvement of former adviser Margaret Roylin in the carrier ship attack that opened the series.

Roylin, played by Celia Imrie, died early in Season 3. In Season 4, Trowbridge imagines she is still alive and advising him.

His final episode is staged as a breakdown. Trowbridge hallucinates that the United States officials he is meeting are laughing at him and mocking him. He then sings an aria while appearing in costume as both a king and a clown.

Showrunner Debora Cahn gave Kinnear advance warning that Trowbridge would resign at some point in Season 4, the actor told The Hollywood Reporter. The specifics arrived later. Cahn messaged him while he was boarding a flight to Lithuania to ask if he could sing an aria.

She already knew he could. Cahn recalled hearing Kinnear sing during a Season 2 funeral scene filmed in St Paul’s Cathedral, when the congregation joined in a hymn.

Cahn said the Season 4 shake-up in the fictional British government was partly inspired by real politics. About five different people occupied 10 Downing Street during Kinnear’s tenure as fictional prime minister, she said.

For viewers, this means a sharp reset. The programme loses both its prime minister and its foreign secretary within two episodes, and the American ambassador is directly involved in forcing the change.

Kinnear also remembered lighter moments from the shoot near a loch. He swam in the lake during filming. “Swimming in the lake was fantastic,” he said.