Steve Coogan reveals surprising 'love story' with Margaret Thatcher
Steve Coogan reveals surprising 'love story' with Margaret Thatcher
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When you think of Steve Coogan, images of Alan Partridge or razor-sharp impersonations might spring to mind. But his latest role as former Labour MP-turned-journalist Brian Walden in Channel 4’s Brian and Maggie is a step away from his usual roles. Coogan dives into a surprising "political love story" between former Labour MP Brian Walden and Margaret Thatcher, played by Dame Harriet Walter. The drama, penned by Sherwood creator James Graham, airs this Wednesday and Thursday on Channel 4 at 9pm, and explores the unexpected relationship forged between Walden and the Iron Lady during her years as Tory prime minister.
Walden, who died in 2019 aged 88, served as Labour MP for Birmingham Ladywood, but resigned in 1977 to become a TV interviewer and became known for his tough grilling of politicians. By then he and Thatcher had become close friends. However, after an infamous interview he did with Thatcher in 1989 in which his questioning triggered the then PM's demise, the pair reportedly never spoke again. For Coogan, the story was instantly fascinating. “It was this political love story of sorts between a disillusioned Labour politician and Margaret Thatcher, who was quite a radical politician at the time. The two of them were outsiders and that’s what attracted them to each other, above and beyond their political views,” he explains.
While their politics were worlds apart, they shared a sense of not quite belonging to the establishment. “I think Brian was naturally on the left, from a working-class background, and Margaret Thatcher as well was from the lower middle class, the small tradespeople background,” Coogan notes.
