Brian and Maggie: who was Brian Walden and what was he famous for?

• Brian and Maggie starts on Channel 4 this evening.
• It is based on the real-life TV interview between Brian Walden and Margaret Thatcher.
• The 45-minute event became a major talking point in 1989.

Channel 4 is breathing new life into one of the most important moments in Margaret Thatcher’s time in Number 10 Downing Street. Her sit down interview with Brian Walden in 1989.

It caused a major stir at the time and according to the broadcaster ultimately led to her downfall and resignation as Prime Minister. The interview was her final one during her reign as leader of the Conservative Party.

For people who were plugged into the political goings-on back in the late 1980s, you may be able to recall the interview. However for younger viewers - or people not as deep into the weeds of politics - you may not be familiar with this pivotal moment.

And while Margaret Thatcher needs no introduction - her time in Downing Street has cast a long and notorious shadow over the UK in the years since. You may not be quite sure who Brian Walden is.

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Was Brian Walden a real person?

Despite being played by Steve Coogan in the Channel 4 series, Brian Walden is not in fact a fictional character - this isn’t an Alan Partridge scenario. He was a politician turned journalist during the 20th century.

Who exactly was Brian Walden?

If you are unfamiliar with the name prior to tuning in to watch Channel 4’s Brian and Maggie, he was a major figure in politics and journalism in the back half of the 20th century. Born in 1932, he grew up in West Bromwich and won a scholarship to The Queen’s College at Oxford University.

He first stood for the Labour party at the 1964 election, coming in third. But in 1964 he was elected as an MP and remained in the House of Commons until 1977, when he resigned to become a full-time journalist and broadcaster.

Walden was known for being a tough political interviewer and presented shows mainly for London Weekend Television. He interviewed then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher multiple times during her time in Downing Street - and was said to be her favourite interviewer.

But the most famous of these interviews came in 1989 - and provides the subject for Brian and Maggie on Channel 4. The show is based on a book by Rob Burley.

Was he friends with Margaret Thatcher?

The two were known to have a mutual respect for each other - which is why Thatcher agreed to be interviewed by him on numerous occasions after he quit politics for a career in broadcast journalism. During one such sit down in 1983, Walden coined the term ‘Victorian values’ to refer to her beliefs - and it was a phrase she used herself on numerous occasions.

Walden also wrote a speech for Thatcher which she delivered during a rally in Wembley during the 1983 general election campaign. But after the interview in 1989, they are said to have never spoken to each other again.

Can you remember the 1989 interview? Let me know by email: [email protected].