Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher
Species:	Human
Place of origin:	Earth
First appearance:	Time Wake
Appearances:	AUDIO: The Ultimate Adventure PROSE: The Assassin's Story PROSE: Downtime: Child of the New World
Main voice actor:	Nadine Cox

Margaret Thatcher (neé Roberts) was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 until at least 1987.

Biography

Margaret Roberts (PROSE: The Assassin's Story) married Denis Thatcher. (AUDIO: The Ultimate Adventure) In March 1965, Lady Catherine Waverly believed that Thatcher, then in opposition, already showed a great deal of promise and Sir Toby Kinsella predicted that she would make her mark. (AUDIO: Manhunt)

Thatcher became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1979, (TV: Tooth and Claw) succeeding either James Callaghan (AUDIO: The Oseidon Adventure) or Shirley Williams. (PROSE: Interference - Book One) On Saturday 27 September 1980, she visited London Zoo with the Chinese Ambassador and the British foreign minister. (PROSE: Downtime: Child of the New World)

Thatcher led the Conservative Party to victory in the general election on 9 June 1983 in a landslide over the Labour Party. (AUDIO: Rat Trap) In 1984, London Zoo had a female Tibetan Yeti named Mahamaya, which was successfully bred with a male from Peking. Their offspring was named Margaret after Thatcher, whom she bit at a photocall. (PROSE: Downtime) In the same year, the Kin used Thatcher as a disguise. (PROSE: Nothing O'Clock)

The Seventh Doctor, Roz Forrester and Chris Cwej lived for a short time in a housing estate in 1987, during her time in power. (PROSE: Damaged Goods; AUDIO: Damaged Goods) That year, posters from the Socialist Worker read, in block letters, "No Third Term For Thatcher". (TV: Father's Day)

Some time in the late twentieth century, Romana II met with her to discuss the impending arrival of the Krikkit fleet. She remembered the Doctor fondly as "an outlandish white-haired figure who had spent the entire evening insulting civil servants" at a dinner at Auderly House. To stop the fleet from Krikkit, Thatcher suggested "always moving, never arriving", so Romana used the energy from the world's nuclear arsenal to freeze the Krikkitmen in place. She wondered what "Ronnie" would think of that. (PROSE: Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen)

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. (AUDIO: The Ultimate Adventure) His tenth incarnation showed further distaste for her. (TV: Tooth and Claw)

References

In contrast to her Indian counterpart and contemporary Indira Gandhi, Peri Brown did not consider Thatcher to be an effective female leader. (AUDIO: The Eye of the Scorpion)

An android replica of Thatcher was the last of a succession of android British Prime Ministers from Robert Walpole created by Tasq. (PROSE: Time Wake)

The Twelfth Doctor briefly mentioned Thatcher as a possible candidate to the Landlord when asking him who the current Prime Minister was. (TV: Knock Knock)

Alternate timeline

In an alternate timeline, Thatcher was assassinated by her fellow Conservative politician Heathcliffe Bower in 1984. However, the proper timeline was restored by the Fifth Doctor. (PROSE: The Assassin's Story)

Behind the scenes

She was played by Maureen Lipman in About Face, Sylvia Syms in Thatcher: The Final Days, Anna Massey in Pinochet in Suburbia and Lindsay Duncan in Margaret.

Continuity

The reference to a female prime minister in Terror of the Zygons was an 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. A section on "Party Politics" in REF: The Discontinuity Guide (later reprinted on 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. In real life, Thatcher resigned as prime minister in 1990, but this has yet to be confirmed in Doctor Who universe continuity.

Satirical portrayals

"Thatchos," a Cyber-leader who appeared in a Lenny Henry Doctor Who sketch.

Margaret Thatcher inspired some unflattering portrayals in the Whoniverse. The misguided dictator Helen A from 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.

The Ultimate Adventure

• The The Ultimate Adventure stage play featured, at various times, the Third Doctor, the Sixth Doctor and a unique stage-only Doctor. During the production, Thatcher was played by Judith Hibbert.