Based on a true story, this is a take on the UK's illiberal terrorist legislation and the increasing return of racism in our society. Rachel (Neshla Caplan) sets off an alert at airport security when the toy plastic chicken she's carrying starts squawking and laying an egg. Her ethnicity, and the news that she is on her way to Istanbul to meet an Iranian man, are enough of an incentive for Ross (David James Kirkwood) to detain and question her under anti terrorism laws. Annoyed at having been overlooked for promotion he sees this as a chance to demonstrate his abilities, but his pursuit of his goal leads him into seeking the most minor of excuses to justify his actions.
His colleague Emma (Anna Russell-Martin) goes along reluctantly at first, but gets angrier with Ross when she's forced into strip searching Rachel, an experience that degrades them both. As they get in deeper and deeper the regulations make it harder and harder to find a way out.
There are a lot of issues being raised here, and fifty minutes is never going to be long enough to explore them in any depth, but Toy Plastic Chicken works as a reminder of how dehumanising bad law can be for parties on both sides of the argument.
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