margaret thatcher gillian anderson© Photo: Netflix

Margaret Thatcher's biographer talks 'silly' inaccuracies in season four of The Crown

The former Prime Minister is played by Gillian Anderson

Senior Features Writer
November 15, 2020

After much anticipation, season four of The Crown has finally made its entrance. With Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies reprising their roles as Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, along with newcomers Emma Corrin and Gillian Anderson taking on the late Princess Diana and Margaret Thatcher respectively, the Netflix series is set to be one of the most talked about this year.

MORE: The Crown season four to issue trigger warnings ahead of Princess Diana episodes

However, the portrayal of the former Prime Minister in the show has been called out for a number of "inaccuracies" by Thatcher's biographer, Charles Moore.

WATCH: Season 4 of The Crown offers new look at Margaret Thatcher

Writing in The Telegraph earlier this month ahead of the drama's release, the writer and editor explained that while the Netflix series is worthy of its praise, a number of moments involving Margaret aren't quite what happened in real-life.

"Once the narrative turns to political events, the details go haywire," he began. "I mention such inaccuracies, however, only to accept Morgan's view that the drama should not be tyrannised by fact, but seen as 'an act of imagination'."

MORE: The Crown's Diana actress Emma Corrin talks Prince William and Harry's reaction to season four

MORE: 7 major events that will probably happen in The Crown season four

© Photo: Netflix

Margaret Thatcher's biographer pointed out a number of inaccuracies

"The Queen would never intervene to save the neck of a prime minister who was losing her party’s support, and Mrs Thatcher would never have thought of asking her to do so. Everything suddenly turns silly.

Despite the pointing out of differences from Charles, the show on the whole has been a huge hit with critics and is likely to go down well with fans.

Olivia Colman reprises her role as the Queen

On bringing the late politician and the monarch together on screen, The Crown creator Peter Morgan told Vanity Fair: "They're like twins who are not the same... They're both very resilient, very committed, work incredibly hard, have an extraordinary sense of duty.

"They're both really committed to the country. They both have a strong Christian faith. They're both girls of the war generation who switch the lights off when they leave a room. But then they had such different ideas about running the country."

Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign up to Off Camera for all the gossip and goings-on from the wonderful world of TV and film

Email Address

By entering your details, you are agreeing to HELLO! Magazine User Data Protection Policy. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information, please click here.

More TV and Film

See more