The Alan Clark Diaries

Louise Gold portrayed as Mrs Thatcher (side and back views only), BBC TV, Recorded 28 November & 11 December 2003; First screened on BBC 4 on 15, 22, 29 January, 5 February and the 12 & 19 February 2004, and on BBC 2 on 17, 24 and 31 March and the 7, 15 and 22 April 2004 - she appears in episodes 2, 3, and 4.

 

Cast

 Episode 1: March Of The Grey Men (Recorded 28 November 2003; Broadcast Thursday 15 January 2004 on BBC 4 & Wednesday 17 March 2004 on BBC 2)

Alan Clark - John Hurt

Jane Clark - Jenny Agutter

Peter Morrison - Nicholas Jones

Jenny Easterbrook - Julia Davis

Donald Derx - Mark Tandy

Sir Robert Armstrong - Timothy West

Dave - Eric Richard

Tristan Garel-Jones - Hugh Fraser

 

 Episode 2: The Lady (Recorded 28 November 2003; Broadcast Thursday 22 January 2004 on BBC 4 & Wednesday 24 March 2004 on BBC 2)

Alan Clark - John Hurt

Jane Clark - Jenny Agutter

Ian Gow - Paul Brooke

Jenny Easterbrook - Julia Davis

Tom King - Peter Blythe

Peter Morrison - Nicholas Jones

Jonathan Aitken - Jeremy Clyde

Margaret Thatcher - Louise Gold

 

 Episode 3: Foreign Parts (Recorded 11 December 2003; Broadcast Thursday 29 January 2004 on BBC 4 & Wednesday 31 March 2004 on BBC 2)

Alan Clark - John Hurt

Jane Clark - Jenny Agutter

Rose - Charlotte Emmerson

Jonathan Aitken - Jeremy Clyde

Tristen Garel-Jones - Hugh Fraser

Michael Branford - William Armstrong

Margaret Thatcher - Louise Gold

Dave - Eric Richard

 

 Episode 4: Defence Of The Realm (Recorded 11 December 2003; Broadcast Thursday 5 February 2004 on BBC 4 & Wednesday 7 April 2004 on BBC 2)

Alan Clark - John Hurt

Jane Clark - Jenny Agutter

Julian Scopes - Julian Wadham

Margaret Thatcher - Louise Gold

Tom King - Peter Blythe

Charles Powell - Terence Harvey

Ian Gow - Paul Brooke

Peter Morrison - Nicholas Jones

 

 Episode 5: Into The Wilderness (Recorded 23 December 2003; Broadcast Thursday 12 February 2004 on BBC 4 & Thursday 15 April 2004 on BBC 2)

Alan Clark - John Hurt

Jane Clark - Jenny Agutter

Tristan Garel-Jones - Hugh Fraser

Julian Scopes - Julian Wadham

Tom King - Peter Blythe

Clark’s mistress - Victoria Smurfit

Valerie Harkness - Mel Martin

 

 Episode 6: Leaving Home (Recorded 23 December 2003; Broadcast Thursday 19 February 2004 on BBC 4 & Thursday 22 April 2004 on BBC 2)

Alan Clark - John Hurt

Jane Clark - Jenny Agutter

Tristan Garel-Jones - Hugh Fraser

Cabbie - Jonathan Stuart

Barbara Lloyd - Jan Francis

Big Barry - Mike Burnside

Jonathan Aitken - Jeremy Clyde

 

Production Team

Dramatised by - Jon Jones

Producer - Kate Lewis

Director - Jon Jones

 

For an Episode Guide / Review, of Louise Gold’s appearances in The Alan Clark Diaries please click here.

 

Louise Gold had previously played caricatures of Margaret Thatcher twice on the West End stage, namely, Katisha Countess Of Grantham in The Metropolitan Mikado and Maggot Scratcher in Sink The Belgrano.

Eric Richard had previously appeared in The Bill

Rachel And The Roarettes, Laugh??? I Nearly Paid My Licence Fee, Rita Rudner, City Lights, A Kick Up The Archive, Alexei Sayle’s Merry-Go-Round, A Week In The West End, and, Transmission: Impossible With Ed And Oucho were also broadcast on BBC 2 (though in their case not on BBC 4).

Nicholas Jones has gone on to appear in Darling of The Day.

John Hurt appeared in ITV’s 50 Greatest Shows.

 

Critics Comments

  “The dramatic scenes in and around the Palace of Westminster did not, I felt, add much — al though Louise Gold presents an uncannily accurate evocation of Margaret Thatcher’s voice, issuing from behind a bouffant hairstyle.” Anthony Howard, THE TIMES, 13 January 2004.

 

Links about The Alan Clark Diaries (TV dramatisation)

The BBC’s (BBC 4) page for the programme: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/cinema/alanclarkdiaries/

The Times Online’s column which included a review of the series: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,482-961345,00.html  actually the article itself is: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1067-961345_2,00.html

 BBC Programme Catalogue section for the programme: http://open.bbc.co.uk/catalogue/infax/series/THE+ALAN+CLARK+DIARIES and individual episode entries: http://open.bbc.co.uk/catalogue/infax/programme/LDXN182F, http://open.bbc.co.uk/catalogue/infax/programme/LDXN183A, and, http://open.bbc.co.uk/catalogue/infax/programme/LDXN184T

Carrentals article by Lisa Davidson mentioning actresses who have played Mrs Thatcher on (big or small) scrren: http://news.carrentals.co.uk/meryl-streep-portrays-margaret-thatcher-in-the-iron-lady-biopic-34237422.html

 

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