The Falklands Play (TV 2002)

Twenty years ago, Britain went to war to regain the Falkland Islands. The Falklands Play is a gripping account of how Margaret Thatcher's government handled the biggest crisis in British ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Samuels

Writer:

Ian Curteis

Stars:

Patricia Hodge, James Fox, John Standing

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Patricia Hodge	...	Rt Hon Margaret Thatcher MP (Prime Minister)
James Fox	...	Rt Hon Peter, 6th Baron Carrington KCMG MC (Foreign Secretary)
John Standing	...	Rt Hon William Whitelaw CH MC MP (Home Secretary)
Michael Cochrane	...	Rt Hon Nicholas Ridley MP (Financial Secretary to the Treasury)
Jeremy Child	...	Rt Hon Francis Pym MC MP (Lord President of the Council / Foreign Secretary)
Rupert Vansittart	...	Sir Robert Armstrong (Cabinet Secretary)
Jonathan Coy	...	Richard Luce MP (Minister of State, Foreign Office)
Clive Merrison	...	Rt Hon John Nott MP (Secretary of State for Defence)
Peter Blythe	...	Rt Hon Sir Michael Havers QC MP (Attorney-General)
Jeremy Clyde	...	Sir Nicholas Henderson (HM Ambassador to the United States)
Colin Stinton	...	Alexander Haig (US Secretary of State)
Shaughan Seymour	...	Adm. Sir Henry Leach (First Sea Lord)
Anthony Calf	...	Robin Fearn (Head of Falkland Islands Department, Foreign Office)
Jasper Jacob	...	John Wilkinson MP (Parliamentary Private Secretary to John Nott)
Richard Cordery	...	Tom Enders (US Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs)

Storyline

Twenty years ago, Britain went to war to regain the Falkland Islands. The Falklands Play is a gripping account of how Margaret Thatcher's government handled the biggest crisis in British foreign affairs since Suez. It tells the story of how Argentina - an ally of the British - fought the Conservative government and invaded sovereign British territory. This play charts the backroom manoeuvrings between Thatcher's government and the military, between the British and the Americans, and the Americans and the Argentineans that led to a breakdown in diplomacy, to war and to Britain's eventual victory.

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Plot Keywords:

britain | falklands | falkland islands | argentina | south georgia island | 

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Details

Official Sites:

BBC Four

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 April 2002 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally commissioned by the BBC in 1987 but wasn't filmed until 2002.

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Quotes

Alexander Haig: We are trying to de-escalise a war.
Margaret Thatcher: So am I. But you do not do it by appeasement. You increase its chances. You see this table? This was where Neville Chamberlain sat in 1938 when he spoke on the wireless about the Czechs as "far away people about whom we know nothing and with whom we have so little in common". Munich! Appeasement! A world war followed because of that irresponsible, woolly-minded, indecisive, slip-shod attitude and the deaths of 45 million people.
Tom Enders: The fact that we have to treat...
[...]

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Connections

Featured in When TV Goes to War (2011)

User Reviews

A very good play that could be recommended to anyone interested in the era.

The Falklands Play has got to be one of the most controversial plays never produced of the 1980s.

Originally written by Ian Curteis shortly after the war ended but the BBC declined to produce it, officially because it wasn't good enough, but widely believed to be because it was too pro-Conservative just before a General Election in the UK. Watching it now it's even harder to believe that it wasn't good enough to make years ago.

Telling the story of the British politics immediately before and during the conflict Patricia Hodge is brilliant in her role as Mrs. Thatcher. So scarily like her that during the recreated news clips it's hard to remember which one is the actress. Although some of the other lead characters look and sound nothing like their alter-egos, they still manage to recreate the right atmosphere.

Deliberately supposed to show the conflict from `our side' I'm not sure if the emotional side of Margaret Thatcher isn't over played slightly.