Brian and Maggie is a Channel 4 dramatization of the interview that led to the downfall of Britain’s former prime minister. Succession and Killing Eve star Harriet Walter is taking on the role of controversial ex-prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
The show, formerly called Brian and Margaret, dramatizes the story of her last ever TV interview, which some believe was the final nail in her prime ministerial coffin. The 45-minute interview was carried out by her old friend and fearsome political inquisitor, the former Labour MP Brian Walden (played by Steve Coogan), who struck numerous blows that were seen to damage her reputation as a leader beyond repair. Thatcher resigned the following year and the pair never spoke again after what is regarded as one of the most infamous political exchanges of all time.
"It’s great to be telling a story from the era of the sorely missed forensic interview — two giants of their time locking horns to determine the future of Britain. To act opposite Harriet Walter with a script by James Graham (the writer behind Sherwood and Brexit: The Uncivil War) and directed by Stephen Frears (A Very English Scandal) is a challenge of the very best kind," says Steve Coogan. Harriet Walter adds: "I have to travel a great distance to reach Maggie Thatcher but with James’s brilliant script, Stephen Frears to guide me and Steve Coogan to accompany me I have the dream team to help me achieve it."
Here’s everything you need to know about the Channel 4 drama Brian and Maggie…
Brian and Maggie release date
Brian and Maggie is a two-part drama that starts on Channel 4 on Wednesday January 29 2025 at 9pm with the second episode showing the following night on Thursday January 30 at 9pm.
Brian and Maggie plot
Based on the book 'Why Is This Lying Bastard Lying to Me: Searching for the Truth on Political TV' by Rob Burley, the drama Brian and Maggie depicts the infamous 1989 interview between feared political interviewer Brian Walden and his long-standing friend and British PM Margaret Thatcher. Although the pair had been close beforehand, the 45-minute interview saw Walden land some heavy blows, particularly regarding the recent resignation of her chancellor Nigel Lawson. It’s thought this final interview led to the chain of events that eventually forced Thatcher to resign a year later. The show also questions whether the death of full-length political interviews threatens the future of modern democracy. Afterwards, the pair never spoke again despite having had cordial relations before…
Writer James Graham says, “After another election, we can wrestle with the importance and effectiveness of the ‘political interview’, it’s a chance to bring to life the intimate and complicated relationship between Brian Walden and Margaret Thatcher – interrogator, and Prime Minister. An epic one of love and betrayal, and I think an audience will be surprised by a lot of it. I know I was.”
Is there a trailer for Brian and Maggie?
Yes a trailer for Brian and Maggie has now been released by Channel 4, so you can see Steve Coogan and Harriet Walter as the two political adversaries doing battle in 1989. Below that you can also watch the actual 1989 interview on which Brian and Maggie is based....
Brian and Maggie cast — Harriet Walter on playing Margaret Thatcher
Harriet Walter who plays Margaret Thatcher, says: "I was very surprised when I was asked. I’d always switched off my TV whenever she came on during the 1980s, and I couldn’t be objective about her. However, during filming I kept seeing things from her point of view, as a woman surrounded by men, and that coloured my way into her. The rigidity of Thatcher’s public persona was all about trying to prove to the boys that she could be as tough as them.’
A host of stars have previously worn the ex-Prime Minister’s famous blue power suits, from Meryl Streep in Oscar-winning movie The Iron Lady to Gillian Anderson in The Crown. But Harriet Walter was determined to put her own stamp on the role by looking at Thatcher’s body language. "Loads of people have played her over the years, but I decided I wasn’t going to try to compete with them,’ she explains. ‘Instead of impersonating her I wanted to look at why she would put her finger out like that at that particular point? What did that tell me about her? What did it tell me about what she wanted to tell the public?’"
* Harriet Walter has an acting CV that's both impressive and extensive. She played Lady Caroline Collingwood in the hit show Succession and Deborah Welton in Ted Lasso. Harriet has also been in This Is Going to Hurt, Killing Eve, Belgravia, Rocketman, My Dinner with Herve, Doctor Who, Law and Order UK, Downton Abbey and The Crown. She is the niece of horror legend Christopher Lee.
Steve Coogan on playing Brian Walden
Steve Coogan plays political interviewer Brian Walden. "The drama was written as a two-hander about the sparring and dance that Brian and Margaret do around each other," says Coogan, 59. "The story is a fascinating one. It’s about a political love story of sorts between a disillusioned Labour politician and a radical Tory Prime Minister. The two of them were outsiders and that’s what attracted them to each other, above and beyond their political views."
Coogan started developing the project after a meeting with Rob Burley, who wrote a book about the momentous interview. "I had watched Walden’s Sunday interviews when I was young, so I knew all about him," explains. "But I went back and looked at all the interviews he did with Thatcher again, to follow the arc of their political relationship. You see her develop as a politician and him develop as an interrogator, which was very interesting."
Growing up with a keen interest in politics also meant Coogan had some strong opinions about the formidable figure dubbed The Iron Lady, although he was determined not to let his personal beliefs cloud the project. "Thatcher was a very divisive figure and I had a lot of antipathy towards her when she was Prime Minister. But the fact she was an outsider makes her a fascinating figure to me. Now I look at her through a slightly different lens, as someone who was looking to make radical change. She knew her stuff and subjected herself to forensic analysis with Walden on a regular basis, in a way that politicians don’t do anymore."
* Steve Coogan found fame as the character Alan Partridge. he played Jimmy Savile in The Reckoning and has been in 24 Hour Party People, Philomena, Stephen, The Trip, Stan & Ollie and The Lost King.
Who else is starring in Brian & Maggie?
Other stars of Brian & Maggie include Paul Clayton as No10 press secretary Bernard Ingham, Ian Kaye as Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson, Simon Paisley Day as Ian Gow MP and Doug Berry as Michael Heseltine MP who eventually challenged Thatcher’s leadership. Also look out for Ross Armstrong as John Wakefield, Emma Sidi as Sue Richardson and Karan Gill as Vinay Ahmed, plus James Fleet (probably Denis Thatcher but to be confirmed) and Tom Mothersdale.
Who were Margaret Thatcher and Brian Walden?
Margaret Thatcher became the MP for Finchley in 1959, leader of the Conservative Party in 1975 then Prime Minister from 1979 through to 1990. Known as The Iron Lady, she was interviewed by Brian Walden a number of times from the 1970s onwards until 1989. Brian Walden had been the Labour MP for Birmingham All Saints which later became Birmingham Ladywood, from 1964 to 1977 when he resigned from Parliament to become a political interviewer for ITV's Weekend World. Mrs Thatcher died in 2013 aged 87 while Brian Walden died in 2019 aged 86.
Behind the scenes on Brian and Maggie
Written by RTS award-winner James Graham (Sherwood, Quiz, Brexit: The Uncivil War), Brian and Margaret is based on political editor and TV producer Rob Burley’s book Why is This Lying Bastard Lying to Me?: Searching for the Truth on Political TV.
Brian and Maggie is a 2x60 minute drama from Baby Cow Productions, one of BBC Studios’ owned production labels, and has been commissioned for Channel 4 by Ollie Madden, Director of Film 4 and Head of Channel 4 Drama alongside Ben Wadey, Drama Commissioning Executive. Executive producers are Sarah Monteith (The Ballad of Wallis Island, Changing Ends, Chivalry), Delyth Scudamore (Toxic Town, A Very British Scandal), Rupert Majendie (The Ballad of Wallis Island, Brian and Charles). Dan Winch (Black Mirror, Quiz, A Very English Scandal) is the producer. BBC Studios are the international distributors of the series.
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