The Falklands Play is a dramatic account of the political events leading to and during the 1982 Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina. The play was written by Ian Curteis, who had started his television career in drama but had increasingly come to specialise in dramatic reconstructions of history. It was originally commissioned by the BBC in 1983 for production and broadcast in 1986, but was subsequently shelved by controller of BBC One Michael Grade due to its supposed support for the prime minister Margaret Thatcher and jingoism. This prompted a press furore over media bias and censorship. The play was not staged until 2002, when it was broadcast in separate adaptations on BBC Television and Radio. It was aired again on BBC4 on 1 December 2020, over 18 years after it was last transmitted.
Contents
Plot
The play focuses on the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the British government's handling of the diplomatic breakdown over the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas), which was the United Kingdom's largest foreign affairs emergency since the 1956 Suez Crisis. In particular, it charts the behind-the-scenes dealings within Thatcher's Conservative government and between it and its military and the United States and Argentine governments in the diplomatic breakdown that gave way to war and an eventual British victory. In response to the Argentine invasion, the Thatcher government calls for a total maritime exclusion zone around the islands and directs a large naval force to set sail for the islands.
Lord Carrington offers his resignation as Foreign Secretary, taking responsibility for the failure to foresee the invasion, and Thatcher reluctantly accepts; his replacement Francis Pym is a reticent member of the war cabinet and cautions Thatcher against a military response, including in the presence of an American delegation under Alexander Haig. Haig enters the affair to attempt to mediate the dispute between Thatcher and the Argentine side, the latter led by the military dictator Leopoldo Galtieri. Secretary of State for Defence John Nott, acting on behalf of his government, demands the total withdrawal of the Argentine garrisons, in compliance with UN Resolution 502.
British response to the involvement of United Nations Secretary-General Pérez de Cuéllar is also portrayed. Other dramatic elements include portrayal of the internal dynamics of the war cabinet and the government's representations in the House of Commons in response to Argentine landings on the British island of South Georgia and their subsequent reclaiming by British forces, the sinking of the Argentine naval cruiser, the ARA General Belgrano, and the losses of British life when the British guided missile destroyer HMS Sheffield was struck by an Argentine Exocet missile. The drama ends with Thatcher's declaration of the end of hostilities in the House of Commons.
Cast
Uncredited
Ray Donn as a government minister
Leonard Silver as a government minister
Production
On 22 October 1982, at a meeting of the Writer's Luncheon Club, BBC Director General Alasdair Milne gave a speech during which he praised Curteis's TV play Suez 1956 (shown three years earlier), which had dealt with the Suez Crisis from the political and diplomatic perspective, rather than the "action" on the ground. Curteis – who was present at the meeting – then sent Milne a copy of the published play, and as an afterthought said: "In a few years' time, I would like to write a similar sort of play about the Falklands Crisis." Milne immediately commissioned the play, and after months of careful negotiation the contract was signed on 6 April 1983. During discussions between Curteis and Keith Williams, the BBC Head of Plays, Cedric Messina was chosen as producer, but it was quickly realised that tempers were still running high about the War, particularly in relation to the BBC's conduct during it, and so it was mutually agreed to put the project on hold.
Curteis recommenced work on the play at the start of 1985, meeting many of the key players and visiting most of the locations that would be portrayed in the play. His research also involved reading most of what had already been published about the War, biographies of the chief protagonists, Hansard for the relevant Parliamentary debates, official reports, and the contemporary press coverage. He delivered the fourth draft of the script to the BBC in April 1986. The budget of £1 million was approved, Messina officially appointed as producer, and David Giles as director. Studio time was booked in TC1 at BBC Television Centre (one of the largest television studios in Europe) for 24 January to 8 February 1987 inclusive, with a planned transmission date of the following 2 April, the fifth anniversary of the Argentinian invasion. It was planned to last for around three hours, with a half-hour break for the Nine O'Clock News.
At a meeting with Milne on 2 June 1986, Curteis raised the question of the general election that was expected to happen the following year, and asked whether it might compromise the planned transmission date of the play. Milne dismissed the possibility of an election before the Autumn of 1987 at the earliest, and stated: "I don't see that transmission in April presents any problem."
In early July the new Head of Plays Peter Goodchild (whose background was in documentaries, rather than drama) requested considerable modifications to the script, amongst them objecting to the portrayal of Thatcher's "private and instinctive self" – as opposed to the "bellicose Iron Lady of the public scenes" – and requesting the inclusion of discussions between members of the government about the possible effect of the War on the 1983 general election. Curteis declined the latter on the grounds that none of the relevant people he had interviewed had alluded to such conversations, and that there was no other record of them. In addition, he considered that attributing such fictional dialogue to real people could be libellous, although he had been willing to do that for conversations between – variously – members of the Argentinian Junta, American envoy Alexander Haig, and the Pope due to the lack of source material.
Media information
Script book
Curteis, Ian (1 February 1998). The Falklands Play: A Television Play. Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0-09-170611-1.
DVD release
Released on Region 2 DVD by BBC Video on 26 March 2007.
The series was included in The Falklands 25th Commemorative Box Set with Tumbledown.