Disgraced politician and best-selling author Lord Archer faced a real-life jury yesterday as a perjury trial began in earnest that could cast a shadow over the build-up to next week's election.
Life imitated art for the flamboyant former Conservative deputy chairman, who earlier this year was treading the boards in London's West End in a courtroom drama, The Accused.
But at the Old Bailey it was deadly serious for Lord Archer (61), who pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, including perverting the course of justice, perjury and using a false document.
The charges relate to Lord Archer's case against the Daily Star in 1987 in which he won £500,000 over allegations, which he denied, that he had sex with a prostitute.
Mr David Waters, for the prosecution, told the court the case centred on two allegations.
The first was that Lord Archer hatched a false alibi with a television producer and friend, Mr Ted Francis, to counter the Daily Star allegations.
Mr Francis (67) was in the dock with Lord Archer and denied a single charge of perverting the course of justice.
"The second . . . has at its core a forged or false diary used by Lord Archer in libel proceedings which were heard in 1987," Mr Waters told the jury.
Mr Waters said Lord Archer made entries in a diary during the summer of 1987 "purely to bolster his case".
The full trial got under way as campaigning for the election was in full swing. Political commentators have said the timing could prove awkward for the Tories, who are trailing badly in the opinion polls and do not want allegations of corruption against members past and present further to derail their ballot hopes.
But they can take comfort from the fact that three weeks of legal argument leading up to yesterday's jury selection meant that a result is unlikely until the end of June.
Lord Archer was deputy party chairman for the Tories in the 1980s under the then prime minister, Baroness Thatcher. In her memoirs she described him as "the extrovert's extrovert - the most popular speaker the party has ever had".
The former Mr Jeffrey Archer was given a life peerage by Mr John Major in 1992 and took the title of Baron Archer of Weston-Super-Mare.
His career has been dogged by controversy surrounding his business dealings and academic qualifications.
He resigned as deputy head of the Tories when the newspaper allegations broke and rocked the political scene in 1999 by abandoning a campaign to become London's mayor after admitting he persuaded another friend to lie on his behalf in connection with his libel case.
The author of blockbuster novels such as Kane and Abel and Honour Among Thieves was later expelled from the Conservative Party for five years and had the party whip withdrawn.