Margaret (2009 film)

Margaret
Directed by	James Kent
Produced by	Sanne Wohlenberg
Written by	Richard Cottan
Starring	Lindsay Duncan James Fox Robert Hardy
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Original channel	BBC Two
Original airing	26 February 2009 (2009-02-26)
Preceded by	The Long Walk to Finchley

Margaret is a 2009 television film produced by Great Meadow Productions for the BBC. It is a fictionalisation of the life of Margaret Thatcher (played by Lindsay Duncan) and her fall from the premiership in the 1990 leadership election.^[1] It was first broadcast on 26 February 2009 on BBC Two. It was made by the same production company as the 2008 television film The Long Walk to Finchley, which fictionalised the start of Thatcher's political career.

Production

On 9 April 2008, it was announced that Duncan was to play Thatcher, and filming commenced in summer 2008.

Cast

Lindsay Duncan - Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister Ian McDiarmid - Denis Thatcher, Prime Minister's Spouse Robert Hardy - Willie Whitelaw, Former Deputy Prime Minister and Home Secretary James Fox - Charles Powell, Prime Minister's Foreign Policy Advisor and Private Secretary Rupert Vansittart - Peter Morrison, Prime Minister's Parliamentary Private Secretary Alan Cox - Gordon Reece, Prime Minister's Media Advisor Christian McKay - John Whittingdale, Prime Minister's Political Secretary Oliver Le Sueur - Mark Thatcher, Prime Minister's Son Olivia Poulet - Carol Thatcher, Prime Minister's Daughter Kevin McNally - Kenneth Clarke, Education Secretary Nicholas Rowe - Malcolm Rifkind, Scotland Secretary Michael Maloney - John Major, Chancellor of the Exchequer Roger Allam - John Wakeham, Energy Secretary Nicholas Jones - Tim Renton, Chief Whip Tim McMullan - William Waldegrave, Foreign Office Minister Nicholas Le Provost - Douglas Hurd, Foreign Secretary Michael Cochrane - Alan Clark, Defence Minister and Thatcher Supporter

John Sessions - Geoffrey Howe, Former Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons Philip Jackson - Bernard Ingham, Prime Minister's Press Secretary Roger Ashton-Griffiths - John Sergeant, ITV Reporter Oliver Cotton - Michael Heseltine, Former Defence Secretary Guy Henry - Tristan Garel Jones, Government Whip Diana Kent - Margaret King Elizabeth Bennett - Sue Mastriforte Julian Firth - Norman Lamont, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rosemary Leach - Queen Elizabeth II Douglas McFerran - MP2 Nigel Le Vaillant - Edward Heath, Former Conservative Leader and Prime Minister Dermot Crowley - Airey Neave, Thatcher Campaign Manager Ian Hughes - John Gummer Nicholas Day - Cranley Onslow Paul Jesson - Kenneth Baker Charlotte Asprey - Caroline Stephens, Thatcher's secretary, wife of Lord Ryder of Wensum Jenny Howe - Cynthia Crawford Tim Wallers - MP1 Martin Chamberlain - Nigel Lawson Mark Perry - John MacGregor George Pensotti - Speaker of the House of Commons Francis Maguire - Official

Hardy, Fox, Vansittart and Cochrane had all appeared in the 2002 TV production of The Falklands Play, by Ian Curteis, about an earlier period in Thatcher's premiership; although many political figures were featured in both films, none of the four actors played the same roles in both.

Reception

The Guardian critic praised the "deft casting" and stated that the flashbacks were "illuminating and sometimes entertaining" and that some episodes in the drama were "wholly imaginary and thoroughly un-Thatcherite, but ... [hang] around the mind like cigar smoke"^[2].

Media releases

It is currently available for purchase in the UK.

See also

• Thatcher: The Final Days, a 1991 film also depicting the final days of Thatcher's premiership
• Cultural depictions of Margaret Thatcher

References

1. ^ "Margaret – introduction". BBC Press Office. 29 January 2009. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2009/01_january/29/margaret.shtml. Retrieved 18 February 2009. 
2. ^ Banks-Smith, Nancy (27 February 2009). "TV review". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/feb/27/television-television. 

External links

• Margaret at BBC Programmes
• Margaret at the Internet Movie Database
• White, Michael (17 February 2009). "The lady's not for turning off: Drama shows the chinks in Thatcher's armour". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/feb/17/bbc-thatcher-drama. Retrieved 2009-02-17. 
• Aaronovitch, David (23 February 2008). "Portillo on Thatcher as Tory pin-up". The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article3402330.ece. Retrieved 2008-06-05. 
• Holmwood, Leigh (29 May 2008). "A Free Country: BBC lines up new series by Tony Saint". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/may/29/bbc.independentproductioncompanies. Retrieved 2008-06-05. 
• Marcus, Sarah (28 April 2008). "Lindsay Duncan to play Margaret Thatcher". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/thatcher/1584490/Lindsay-Duncan-to-play-Margaret-Thatcher.html. Retrieved 2008-06-05.