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Margaret (2009 film)

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Margaret
Written byRichard Cottan
Directed byJames Kent
StarringLindsay Duncan
James Fox
Robert Hardy
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerSanne Wohlenberg
Running time113 minutes
Original release
NetworkBBC Two
Release26 February 2009 (2009-02-26)
Related
The Long Walk to Finchley

Margaret is a 2009 television film produced by Great Meadow Productions for the BBC. 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.

Plot

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Margaret is a fictionalisation of the life of Margaret Thatcher (played by Lindsay Duncan) and her fall from the premiership in the 1990 leadership election, with flashbacks telling the story of Thatcher's defeat of Edward Heath in the 1975 leadership election.[1]

Production

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

Cast

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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.

Allam, Cochrane, Jones and Sessions would go on to appear in the 2011 film The Iron Lady about Thatcher's rise to power, relationship with her husband, and life after politics.

Reception

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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

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It is currently available for purchase in the UK.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Margaret – introduction". BBC Press Office. 29 January 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  2. ^ Banks-Smith, Nancy (27 February 2009). "TV review". The Guardian.
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