Margaret (2009)

Margaret Thatcher's final days as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Director:

James Kent

Writer:

Richard Cottan

Stars:

Roger Allam, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, Charlotte Asprey

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Roger Allam	...	John Wakeham
Roger Ashton-Griffiths	...	John Sergeant
Charlotte Asprey	...	Caroline Stephens
Elizabeth Bennett	...	Sue Mastriforte
Martin Chamberlain	...	Nigel Lawson
Michael Cochrane	...	Alan Clark
Oliver Cotton	...	Michael Heseltine
Alan Cox	...	Gordon Reece
Dermot Crowley	...	Airey Neave
Nicholas Day	...	Cranley Onslow
Lindsay Duncan	...	Margaret Thatcher
Julian Firth	...	Norman Lamont
James Fox	...	Charles Powell
Robert Hardy	...	Willie Whitelaw
Guy Henry	...	Tristan Garel-Jones

Storyline

Margaret Thatcher's final days as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

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Plot Keywords:

character name as title | queen elizabeth ii character | forename as title | margaret thatcher character | prime minister | 

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Certificate:

TV-14

Did You Know?

Trivia

The real No. 10 Downing Street was decorated by Steve Hunt, his first job after leaving school. The entrance hall behind the famous No. 10 front door is blue in the film, but was really painted red, which Margaret Thatcher did not like, since it is the traditional colour for the opposition Labour Party. The main staircase was painted in a stippled yellow glaze, not beige-pink like in the film.

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Goofs

Throughout the film any time a telephone rang a soft electronic warble ring was used. Yet all telephones seen throughout the production are BT/GPO standard issue (of the day) Type 706's which had a mechanical bell ringer.

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Quotes

Geoffrey Howe: It is rather like sending your opening batsmen to the crease only for them to find the moment that the first balls are bowled that their bats have been broken before the game by the team captain.

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Connections

Featured in De wereld draait door: Episode #4.110 (2009)

User Reviews

Pure entertainment

People who live in North America were intrigued by the rise of Margaret Thatcher. She seemed to break all the rules for success in politics: she was rigid, not pliable; she never listened, only told people what was going to happen. This approach led to three successive majority governments, but led also to resentment and finally open revolt in the ranks of her party. She was forced to resign because her fellow Tories wanted her out. At one point, late in the film, she asks if she could turn over leadership of the party to someone more popular with the rank-and-file, so she could get on with the job of running the country. That is how much she had lost touch with day-to-day reality.

Lindsay Duncan does a splendid job playing Thatcher. She has the hectoring tone down pat, but relieves it with more intimate, warmer moments. The cabinet looks like a series of gargoyles on the facade of a cathedral--the actor playing Rifkind looks like a toucan in profile, while the rest look either thuggish or pitiable. One of them even bursts into tears when confronted by Thatcher, to her irritation. This TV docudrama can be recommended enthusiastically to all non-British viewers.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 February 2009 (UK)

Also Known As:

Demir leydi

Filming Locations:

Langley Park, Slough, Berkshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Great Meadow Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Color:

Color