davidb

i completely forgot to watch this ,after the disappointment that was mary whitehouse i wasnt expecting much ,was it any good ?

billy bentley

I don't know how many fans she has at Britmovie, but I doubt if she has anyone that dislikes her more than me. I wouldn't watch anything on her, unless the ending was suitably grim.

AdrianTurner

Much, much better than the Mary Whitehouse film. In fact, it was absolutely smashing, with a marvellous performance and a brilliant central conceit that Ted Heath and Margaret Thatcher could have been a marriage made in heaven (made in Kent, actually) except for Ted being a "one-nation poofter" who completely misreads Margaret's advances. There were some stand-out lines (young Mark saying, "Can I go to Africa mommy? I won't be a nuisance.") in what was a glorious 50s-style romp that should have had Terry-Thomas playing Dennis. But it also had a heart of iron - that to get where she did, Margaret was engaged in a battle of the sexes and a fearless champion of freedom in a party full of medal-clanging bigots. Excellent stuff!

oxfam1uk

I didn't watch it, because the trailers gave the impression that it was going to be just a smirking mickey-take - whereas this could be a very interesting and thoughtful subject.
However, if people thought it was good, then I might give the repeat a watch !

There's never been the slightest factual evidence that Ted Heath was a "poofter". He just didn't know how to talk to women ... but then he didn't really know how to get on with men, either !

orpheum

She was our local MP till boundary changes took us out of her constituency in 1970.There were a lot of old Tory buffers around here i can tell you.The Mp for the next door constituency was called Sir Hugh Devere Lucas Montfort Tooth Bart.It was alledged that he had more names than words in Hansard.
I remember Thatch coming to our school to talk to us in 1964 and i have to say that my memory is of a fairly unexceptional person.My late father stood against her as a Liberal at the 1964 or 66 General Election and came a very creditable second about 7000 votes behind her,If he had won the history of this country would be significantly different.My father later,for his sins,became a Tory councillor and kept in touch with her.She sent my mum a letter of symapthy when my dad died.
We were acquainted with many of the local tories and they were an awful bunch filled with lots of prejudices and not just against women,

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Lord Brett

Oh I don't know, I can't stand her either and there are other like minded people on these boards. I'm sure she has some fans on Britmovies as well, though.

It takes all sorts, I suppose...

samkydd

It's funny that post his Premiership, Ted Heath seemed like a really nice, witty and intelligent bloke and I always looked forward to hearing his views on TV and radio. He was a keen musician and yachtsman and lived a fairly 19th century existence in Salisbury, but the fact that he was a bachelor didn't necessarily make him 'an iron'.

Many married men are closet irons and how many times over the years have we seen scandal uncovered about family men politicians spended their expenses on rent boys etc.

Some married men would envy someone like Ted Heath and relish the opportunity to return to bachelorhood, especially with enough wherewithal to be able to afford to pursue their hobbies and sporting interests any time they wanted.

It's a bit arrogant to assume that all men must need a soul mate, or all women for that matter. Some people just prefer their own company and wouldn't dream of imposing themselves on another being. You can still have many friends but you don't necessarily need to share your every waking hour with one of them to make your life complete!

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

Lord Brett

Stories and rumours have come out (so to speak) since Sir Edward's death. It seems the poor man was given a choice between having a love life and a political career.

oxfam1uk

But stories and rumours are not facts, are they ?

Observing several Internet forums, I notice that many people are far more interested in gossip than facts, especially if they are of a sexual nature.
The attitude among many seems to be "let's have a good gossip and bitch - the facts are dull !"

How can anyone know that for sure? It sounds like just another Internet myth.

I can think of, er, ONE. Again, this is just wishful-thinking, by people who want to rubbish politicians.

Lord Brett

Here's a link to the newspaper story I read a while back. Ted Heath ‘propositioned men for sex’ - Times Online

I don't have an axe to grind about Ted Heath, it's just a shame he wasn't able to be open about his love life in an era when the expression of it could have landed him in jail.

Fellwanderer

That's two crosses you've got to bear!

An Ar***** supporter and the son of the man who might have saved us from That Bloody Woman

Still, I won't hold the first against you for more than a lifetime - the second is for all eternity, though

All the best
FELL

A signature is no substitute for a life

orpheum

Just looked up the 1966 result which was:-
Thatch 23968
Labour 14504
my dad 13070
So Thatch got 46.5% of the vote which shows that she wasnt all that popular at that time in her constitueny.However one also has to remember that there was a subtantial swing to Labour so it was a respectable performance when the tide was flowing to labour.Incidentally her old constituency,in which i reside due to subsequent boundary changes is considered to be the most marginal in the UK>Although the sitting Labour MP has a majority of 2000.Taking into account the new boundary changes his majority is a notional 30.Should be intersting at the next General election.

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CaptainWaggett

The Guardian review has almost persuaded me that I should try to catch a repeat though I'm reluctant to be reminded of anything to do with the woman.

julian_craster

The director clearly borrowed the ending from THE THIRD MAN, when Heath walks past Mrs T, on her arrival in parliament, ignoring her....
I thought the actress playing Mrs T was very good, as was Sam West as Edward Heath and the excellent Geoffrey Palmer .......a very entertaining film !

Steve Crook

It was a line used in the film, that's presumably why it was quoted.

I only caught the second part of it so I'll watch the first half of the repeat. It looks interesting.

The other great line about Mark was when they were at the seaside when the election is called, Dennis is looking for Mark who is lost in the sand dunes

Steve