PBS has set the US premiere date for Brian and Maggie, a two-part historical drama starring multi-award winners Steve Coogan and Dame Harriet Walter.
There are interviews and then there are interviews, like the 1995 interview of Princess Diana by BBC journalist Martin Bashir, and the 2019 interview of Prince Charles by Emily Maitlis on the BBC’s Newsnight program. Even for Americans and other non-Brits, those one-on-ones were jaw-dropping moments. Less so for us (but not Britons) is the the 1989 TV interview of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher by journalist Brian Walden, considered one of the most famous political exchanges of all time.
Brian and Maggie dramatizes that final on-air sit-down between the “much feared inquisitor” and the “Iron Lady,” who, prior to the interview, were old friends. After the interview, not so much.
Starring Oscar® nominee Steve Coogan (Philomena, The Reckoning, The Conviction: The Case of Stephen Lawrence) as politician-turned-journalist Brian Walden and Emmy® nominee Dame Harriet Walter (Succession, Ted Lasso, The Crown) as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the two-parter dramatizes their last ever TV interview, a 45-minute showdown that became a talking point across the UK, reshaped national opinion, and helped set in motion a series of events that ended with Thatcher’s resignation.
After the interview, Brian and Margaret never spoke again.
Brian and Me premieres in the US on Sunday, October 5, at 8pm ET, on PBS (check your local listings) — leading into the highly-anticipated US premiere of the new mystery series, Maigret — and concludes on October 12 at the same time. Streaming will be available on PBS.org and the PBS app.
The limited series is based on political program producer/editor Rob Burley’s account of the Walden-Thatcher interview in his book, Why Is This Lying Bastard Lying to Me?: Searching for the Truth on Political TV.
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Why Is This Lying Bastard Lying to Me?: Searching for the Truth on Political TV by Rob Burley
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