I hear that this play was not originally broadcast by the BBC either as: it was politically sensitive, or; it was simply not up to scratch. I would say there was validity to both propositions.
It is definitely politically sensitive material, and surely it was quite right that the original production was not broadcast in the run-up to what, if I remember correctly, was the 1987 General Election. The BBC had the utmost sense not to broadcast such an unbalanced, politically-slanted piece. One could understand such a play if it was written to sure up people's support for the State in a time of crisis, but inherently it was ready long after the Falklands conflict. One would expect a balanced, realistic perspective from such a play as this, but instead you get a whitewashing of then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's character. In readings about her, from Hugo Young to Julian Critchley to any number of Cabinet colleagues, I can tell this is not the real Thatcher. True, the Falklands conflict may have shown her at her best, but this play is practically adulatory, portraying the "Great She Elephant" as a very balanced, pragmatic and acutely sensitive and emotional person. She was roundly not these things, and indeed, a cursory reading of the Falklands saga shows she was at odds with many of the people involved, not just the odd stray American who doesn't quite grasp the situation.
One clearly gets the sense, with use of archive news reports and the general slanted tone, that the writer had no personal experience of what went on within the higher echelons of British Government at the time. That is not to say, of course, that someone like this shouldn't be allowed to write a play about the Falklands; just that they should have tried to craft a drama with far more adherence to what really happened. Thinking about it, this drama really is lacking in dramatics. Where is the real insight as to Thatcher's tensions with Messrs. Carrington and Pym? A capable, veteran cast of British stalwarts act it out reasonably, but it does no good really. Patricia Hodge does a good job at acting a Prime Minister who really is no Margaret Thatcher. She does not attempt to capture virtually any of the mannerisms or tones of Thatcher. An ill-advised performance, but surely the result of Curteis' slanted perspective. It really could be a Party Political Broadcast for the Right Hon. Member for Finchley and the Conservative Government of the time. The handling of the historical sequence of events is plodding and really quite banal. And what to say about certain political figures' portrayal? A Denis Healey who looks absolutely nothing like him, a Ronald Reagan who is sent up as a hapless, clueless charlatan. Well, maybe there's some validity to *that*...!
So, certainly a mistaken choice for BBC4 to revive this project, a project that frankly had little merit; the original decision on it was quite justified on both counts.
Rating:- **/*****
It is definitely politically sensitive material, and surely it was quite right that the original production was not broadcast in the run-up to what, if I remember correctly, was the 1987 General Election. The BBC had the utmost sense not to broadcast such an unbalanced, politically-slanted piece. One could understand such a play if it was written to sure up people's support for the State in a time of crisis, but inherently it was ready long after the Falklands conflict. One would expect a balanced, realistic perspective from such a play as this, but instead you get a whitewashing of then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's character. In readings about her, from Hugo Young to Julian Critchley to any number of Cabinet colleagues, I can tell this is not the real Thatcher. True, the Falklands conflict may have shown her at her best, but this play is practically adulatory, portraying the "Great She Elephant" as a very balanced, pragmatic and acutely sensitive and emotional person. She was roundly not these things, and indeed, a cursory reading of the Falklands saga shows she was at odds with many of the people involved, not just the odd stray American who doesn't quite grasp the situation.
One clearly gets the sense, with use of archive news reports and the general slanted tone, that the writer had no personal experience of what went on within the higher echelons of British Government at the time. That is not to say, of course, that someone like this shouldn't be allowed to write a play about the Falklands; just that they should have tried to craft a drama with far more adherence to what really happened. Thinking about it, this drama really is lacking in dramatics. Where is the real insight as to Thatcher's tensions with Messrs. Carrington and Pym? A capable, veteran cast of British stalwarts act it out reasonably, but it does no good really. Patricia Hodge does a good job at acting a Prime Minister who really is no Margaret Thatcher. She does not attempt to capture virtually any of the mannerisms or tones of Thatcher. An ill-advised performance, but surely the result of Curteis' slanted perspective. It really could be a Party Political Broadcast for the Right Hon. Member for Finchley and the Conservative Government of the time. The handling of the historical sequence of events is plodding and really quite banal. And what to say about certain political figures' portrayal? A Denis Healey who looks absolutely nothing like him, a Ronald Reagan who is sent up as a hapless, clueless charlatan. Well, maybe there's some validity to *that*...!
So, certainly a mistaken choice for BBC4 to revive this project, a project that frankly had little merit; the original decision on it was quite justified on both counts.
Rating:- **/*****