PALS’ COSTA GETAWAY on last night’s telly
To me, to you, to a health retreat in Spain! EastEnders’ actor Adam Woodyatt, who plays Ian Beale, enjoyed a “messy” weekend with Chuckle Brothers star Paul as the pals sank Negronis by the sea. The pair even bought matching hats.
Thatcher – A Very British Revolution, BBC2 ★★★★
The ongoing Tory leadership battle has certainly added an intriguing dimension to this excellent five-part documentary over the past month.
Perhaps never more so than last night’s finale, in which we reached the end of Mrs Thatcher’s
road. The general consensus was she was knifed in the back by a number of her former supporters.
Or, as her former Private Secretary Charles Powell put it: “One moment she was an all-powerful Prime Minister, the next moment it seemed she had been chucked out by a band of tearoom rebels.”
As for the current crop of Tory schemers, PG Tips chimps would probably be a better description. It served as a timely warning to Boris Johnson that he shouldn’t get too comfortable once his accession has been rubberstamped.
If a world stateswoman with three general election victories under her belt could be so unceremoniously unseated by her enemies, what chance would a bumbling fop with a floppy mandate have?
There was some fantastic archive footage last night, including the infamous moment in 1990 when Mrs Thatcher emerged from the British Embassy in Paris and sneaked up on John Sergeant just as he was in the process of telling BBC News viewers what he thought she might do next. There was also a brief clip of Mrs Thatcher answering tough questions on a TV show called Face The Press. There you go, Boris. That’s what a proper leader should be doing, old chap.