Margaret Thatcher: In Movies and Television

The late prime minister was portrayed in nearly two dozen films and TV shows

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Pathe Productions / The Weinstein Company

According to Wikipedia, there have been portrayals of Margaret Thatcher in no less than five films and 14 TV shows.

We’ve assembled some of the more memorable onscreen depictions.

The Queen (2009)

The five-episode drama-documentary aired on Britain’s Channel 4 and tells the life story of Queen Elizabeth II. The third episode looks at Her Majesty’s relationship with Thatcher, here played by frequent Mike Leigh collaborator Lesley Manville.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v77EFYU85Ik]

Margaret (2009)

The BBC production examines Thatcher’s final days at 10 Downing Street, following her defeat in the Conservative Party’s 1990 leadership election. Thatcher is played by Lindsay Duncan.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owp7lXEMAKE]

The Falklands Play (2002)

This stage-based retelling of Britain’s involvement in 1982’s Falklands War was commissioned by the BBC — it planned to broadcast the play on TV and radio in 1983. But the project was shelved indefinitely following a controversy over its supposed pro-Thatcher tone. The play (broadcast as intended on TV and radio) was finally staged in 2002. Patricia Hodge plays Thatcher.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF8LeNLc43M]

For Your Eyes Only (1981)

There’s really not much to add to this end-of-movie scene in which the fictional Thatcher (doing the dishes, no less) thinks she is talking to 007. The Iron Housewife is played by Janet Brown.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf67SPzC3tQ]

The Iron Lady (2011)

Two actresses portray the late prime minister in this big-budget biopic: Alexandra Roach, plays the young Thatcher, growing up in the small village of Grantham; Meryl Streep—who deservedly won an Oscar  for the role—plays her in the last four decades of her life.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g3-21BWhxM]