Harriet Walter’s impressive transformation into Margaret Thatcher revealed in new series
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New drama depicts the 45-minute showdown interview between former prime minister and journalist Brian Walden in 1989. Harriet Walter’s transformation into Margaret Thatcher for a forthcoming Channel 4 drama has been revealed in a new trailer. Walter, 74, known for her roles in Ted Lasso, Succession and Killing Eve, stars in Brian and Maggie, a two-part dramatisation of the last ever TV interview between Thatcher and politician-turned-journalist Brian Walden (Steve Coogan) in 1989.
![[Harriet Walter as Margaret Thatcher in ‘Brian and Maggie’]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/10/12/harriet1.jpg)
Waldon was said to be Thatcher’s favourite interviewer, but this all changed after their final interview when it became one of the most infamous political TV showdowns of all time and culminated in the end of their friendship. They never spoke again.
![[Harriet Walter in new Channel 4 drama ‘Brian and Maggie’]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/10/12/newFile-5.jpg)
The pair locked horns and the 45-minute interview, which went on to become a national talking point and was part of a series of events that led to Thatcher’s resignation in 1990. In the first trailer for the two-parter, Walter embodies Thatcher’s mannerisms and helmet-style hairdo and can be seen wearing the prime minister’s high-neck blouses, pearl necklaces and decorative brooches.
In one scene, Walter’s Thatcher tells Coogan’s Walden: “One day, someone will come for me,” to which he replies: “I reckon there’s no one you wouldn’t be able to see off, Margaret.”. The landmark interview came after Chancellor Nigel Lawson resigned over Thatcher’s unwillingness to sack her economics adviser, Sir Alan Walters. While Thatcher’s interview with Waldon had been planned for months, Walden brought up the topic in the interview, which made for a heated conversation.
