The Falklands Play
Michael Samuels2002-04-10
7.4
90 min
The Falklands Play is a dramatic account of the political events leading up to, and including, the 1982 Falklands War. The play was written by Ian Curteis, an experienced writer who had started his television career in drama, but had increasingly come to specialise in dramatic reconstructions of history. It was originally commissioned by the BBC in 1983, for production and broadcast in 1986, but was subsequently shelved by Controller of BBC One Michael Grade due to its alleged pro-Margaret Thatcher stance and jingoistic tone. This prompted a press furore over media bias and censorship.The play was not staged until 2002, when it was broadcast in separate adaptations on BBC Television and Radio.
Cast
| Name | Character | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Patricia Hodge | Rt. Hon Margaret Thatcher (Prime Minister) | Unowned |
 |
John Standing | Rt Hon William Whitelaw CH MC MP (Home Secretary) | Unowned |
 |
Michael Cochrane | Rt Hon Nicholas Ridley MP (Financial Secretary to the Treasury) | Unowned |
 |
James Fox | Rt Hon Peter, 6th Baron Carrington KCMG MC (Foreign Secretary) | Unowned |
 |
Colin Stinton | Alexander Haig (US Secretary of State) | Unowned |
 |
Anthony Calf | Robin Fearn (Head of Falkland Islands Department, Foreign Office) | Unowned |
 |
Jeremy Child | Rt Hon Francis Pym MC MP (Foreign Secretary) | Unowned |
 |
Richard Cordery | Tom Enders | Unowned |
 |
Robert Hardy | Sir Anthony Parsons | Unowned |
 |
John Woodvine | Adm. of the Fleet Sir Terence Lewin | Unowned |
 |
Rupert Vansittart | Sir Robert Armstrong (Cabinet Secretary) | Unowned |
 |
Jonathan Coy | Richard Luce MP (Minister of State, Foreign Office) | Unowned |
 |
Clive Merrison | Rt Hon John Nott MP (Secretary of State for Defence) | Unowned |
 |
Peter Blythe | Rt Hon Sir Michael Havers QC MP (Attorney-General) | Unowned |
 |
Jeremy Clyde | Sir Nicholas Henderson (HM Ambassador to the United States) | Unowned |
 |
Shaughan Seymour | Adm. Sir Henry Leach (First Sea Lord) | Unowned |
 |
Jasper Jacob | John Wilkinson MP (Parliamentary Private Secretary to John Nott) | Unowned |
 |
Bob Sherman | President Ronald Reagan | Unowned |
 |
Lorelei King | Jeanne Kirkpatrick (US Ambassador to the UN) | Unowned |
 |
Garrick Hagon | Vernon Walters (Senior Adviser to the US Secretary of State) | Unowned |
 |
Arturo Venegas | Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (UN Secretary-General) | Unowned |
 |
Vernon Dobtcheff | Nicanor Costa Méndez (Argentine Minister of External Relations) | Unowned |
|
Robert Bowman | Sir Hamilton Whyte (Member, British Mission to the UN) | Unowned |
 |
Tom Chadbon | Adm. Sir John Fieldhouse (C-in-C Fleet) | Unowned |
|
Gordon Langford Rowe | Rt Hon George Thomas MP (Speaker of the House of Commons) | Unowned |
 |
Patrick Godfrey | Rt Hon Michael Foot MP (Leader of the Opposition) | Unowned |
|
Ron Meadows | Rt Hon Peter Shore MP (Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer) | Unowned |
 |
Renny Krupinski | David Lambie MP (Labour) | Unowned |
|
Charles McCurdy | John Browne MP (Conservative) | Unowned |
|
Martin Oldfield | Rt Hon Enoch Powell MP (Conservative) | Unowned |
 |
Geoffrey Wilkinson | Sir Anthony Meyer Bt MP (Conservative) | Unowned |
|
Alan Rothwell | John Wells MP (Conservative) | Unowned |
|
Geoff Holman | Rt Hon Tony Benn MP (Labour) | Unowned |
 |
David Fleeshman | Denis Healey MP (Labour) | Unowned |