The Crown: Margaret Thatcher biographer calls out ‘inaccuracies’ in season 4
He praised Gillian Anderson but highlighted some ‘silly’ embellishments
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Your support makes all the difference.Margaret Thatcher's biographer has pointed out some inaccuracies in the new season of The Crown.
Journalist Charles Moore wrote an authorised biography of the British prime minister, which was published in three volumes from 2013 to 2019.
He has now cast his verdict on the fourth season of Netflix's hit show, which introduces Thatcher played by Gillian Anderson.
Moore has high praise for Anderson's performance, calling it the "only convincing" one he's seen to date.
However, while he largely praises the new season, he said that showrunner Peter Morgan has taken some dramatic licence with several historical points.
"Once the narrative turns to political events, the details go haywire," he wrote in The Telegraph.
"Small examples: her then chancellor, Geoffrey Howe, never tried to impede the Falklands War and did not attend the key meeting where it was decided to send in the task force; her most important private secretary, Charles Powell, was not working for her at that time; her son Mark was not lost (and found) in the desert just as the Falklands were invaded."
According to Moore, the most "incredible" veering from fact occurs near the end of the season when Thatcher asks the Queen to "intervene" to "save [her] neck" when she starts "losing her party's support".
"Mrs Thatcher would never have thought of asking her to do so," Moore writes, adding: "Everything suddenly turns silly."
The Crown season four will be available to stream on Netflix from 15 November.
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