Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 (DW: Tooth and Claw) until at least 1987 (DW: Father's Day). The Seventh Doctor, Roz Forrester and Chris Cwej lived for a short time in a housing estate during her time in power. (NA: Damaged Goods) In both his ninth (DW: Father's Day) and tenth incarnations (DW: Tooth and Claw), the Doctor showed some distaste for her.
She was the leader of the Conservative Party. Her party won the general election on 9 June 1983 in a landslide. (BFA: Rat Trap)
The Sixth Doctor served as an advisor or consultant to her. He referred to her disdainfully as "that woman" and admitted that she terrified him. (BFA: The Ultimate Adventure)
In contrast to her Indian counterpart and contemporary Indira Gandhi, Peri Brown did not consider her to be an effective female leader. (BFA: The Eye of the Scorpion)
Behind the scenes
Continuity
The reference to a female prime minister in Terror of the Zygons wan ad-lib by Nicholas Courtney, according to the DVD commentary for Frontier in Space. It could suggest that in the Doctor Who universe either Thatcher was elected PM earlier than in real life or that, as intended by the production team, the UNIT stories took place in the near future. The BBC's Doctor Who Classic Series website, however, claims that the Prime minister was Shirley Williams, with Labour taking over from a collapsing Jeremy Thorpe government. [1]
Satirical portrayals
Margaret Thatcher inspired some unflattering portrayals in the Whoniverse. The misguided dictator Helen A from DW: The Happiness Patrol is widely supposed to be based upon her, whereas the villainess Rehctaht, the female villain of Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma, has the name Thatcher, spelled backwards.
A villainess named "Thatchos" (a Cyber-Leader in a fright wig) appeared in a Doctor Who parody on The Lenny Henry Show.
