It’s the new Channel 4 docudrama that’s bringing the story of Margaret Thatcher’s infamous final interview to life, but one of its stars Steve Coogan has revealed that there’s one scene in Brian and Maggie that simply had to go. The reason? It was far too kind to the Iron Lady.

“I’m not going to deny it. It was because I didn’t want this series to be some sort of rehabilitation of Margaret Thatcher,” Coogan said at an early screening of the show. “I wanted it to be something that was balanced.”

pictured steve coogan as brian walden and harriet walter as margaret thatcher
Channel 4

The two-part special portrays the former Prime Minister’s final TV interview with Brian Walden, which saw her continually stumble and utter the fateful words: “I don’t know.” Prior to the interview, Walden was Thatcher’s favourite interviewer, with the pair having formed an unlikely bond – and yet afterwards, they never spoke again.

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So what exactly happened in the scene that Coogan insisted was cut?

pictured harriet walter as margaret thatcher
Channel 4

"It wasn’t some kind of woke airbrushing, it wasn’t at all,” he insisted. "There was a line that said, ‘She’s worth 100 of them’ and I thought it was too syrupy for Brian to say that after having stuck the knife in. I thought raising the glass to her was sufficient without that line. It was more subtle. It was important that we got the balance right.”

Despite not wanting to be “too kind” to the former Prime Minister, Coogan did admit to finding some redeeming qualities in her.

“Despite the fact that I think the Thatcherite experiment failed a lot of people, I think she wasn’t duplicitous,” he said.

pictured steve coogan as brian walden, ross armstrong as john wakefield, emma sidi as sue richardson and karan gill as vinay ahmed
Matt Frost

“And what I respect about her, having made this [series], is that she had a clear point of view in stark contrast to a lot of politicians these days who say whatever it is they think will get them to the next day and are so risk averse about saying anything. She wasn’t worried about being unpopular. She had a clear ideology, unlike the bumbling along ineffectual pragmatism that we’ve got now in this country."

Brian and Maggie will air at 9pm on Channel 4 on Wednesday 29th January.