Margaret Thatcher rarely flinched in the face of scrutiny. But one interview, aired on 29 October 1989, proved to be a turning point in her premiership. Conducted by Brian Walden, the former MP turned feared political interviewer, the grilling exposed the Iron Lady’s vulnerabilities and is now widely seen as a moment that hastened her downfall.
That fateful encounter is the focus of Brian and Maggie, a new Channel 4 docudrama starring Harriet Walter (Succession) as Thatcher and Steve Coogan as Walden. Written by Olivier Award-winning playwright James Graham (Sherwood, Quiz, Brexit: The Uncivil War) and directed by Stephen Frears (The Queen, Philomena), the drama revisits the intensity of the interview that saw a rarely flustered Thatcher visibly agitated.
