Leftie David Tennant’s most demanding role yet: cheering on Mrs T!
BEING a cheerleader for Margaret Thatcher is unlikely to have been high on David Tennant’s bucket list.
But a job is a job, and these exclusive Mail on Sunday pictures show the Labour-supporting Doctor Who star cheering on the late Prime Minister in scenes from a new adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s novel Rivals.
The book, which is part of the author’s racy Rutshire Chronicles, is set in the cut-throat world of commercial TV during the 1980s.
Tennant, 52, plays ruthless media mogul and peer Tony Baddingham, who is involved in a battle with the series’ best-known character, Tory MP Rupert Campbell-Black, for control of the fictional station Corinium Television.
In our photos, Lord Baddingham is joined by flag-waving Corinium staff as Mrs Thatcher, played by an unidentified actress, visits their HQ. Earlier this year, Bathgateborn Tennant – who has appeared in Labour party political broadcasts – described the Tories as a bunch of ‘f***wits’ and, speaking in 2005, he said: ‘When I started working in theatre in England, I would meet people and they would say, “Oh, I voted for Margaret Thatcher.”
‘The first time I heard someone saying that I honestly thought they were joking. I’d be thinking, “I have never met anyone from your world. What’s it like? Do you roast children over open fires?” I still find it impossible to believe that anyone in the arts votes Conservative.’ By contrast he has praised Keir Starmer’s ‘grown-up’ Labour leadership.
Rivals caused a sensation when it came out in 1988. Although there is no release date for the Disney+ adaptation, it is expected to be one of the most talked-about shows. Other cast members include Shakespearean actor Alex Hassell as CampbellBlack, Poldark’s Aidan Turner and Ballykissangel’s Victoria Smurfit.