Woman at War
And that is clearly how Margaret Thatcher saw herself, as is revealed in the first of four programmes examining her 11 years as Prime Minister. "My life was a daily battle," she says during one of the exclusive interviews around which the documentaries are pinned, and the battle was against anyone, colleague or political adversary, who dared to stand in the way of her imposing her own vision of society on the country.
This week we hear how she rejected the post-war consensus that had prevailed for more than 30 years, and the bitter battles between the so-called wets and drys within her first government are brought candidly to life.
Lords Prior, Pym and Gilmour describe in no-holds-barred terms their dislike of Thatcher's style and manner (Gilmour even referring to her as "fevered and irrational"). As the country moved into crippling recession she refused to make a U-turn in policy ("The lady's not for turning"), and Lords Prior and Gilmour argue that this was ruinous to industry and sparked mass unemployment. But by 1981 the Prime Minister had either sacked or marginalised the wets, and her policies continued unchallenged. Series producer Denys Blakeway
Executive producers Hugh Scully , Samir Shah A Fine Art production for BBCtv
("After Margaret", a season of special programmes, begins next Saturday on BBC2.)
Andrew Duncan interview with Lady Thatcher SEEFEATUREpage34