At 83, Stephen Frears is still directing marvellous new productions.
His latest, on Channel 4, Brian and Maggie, stars Steve Coogan as Brian Walden and Harriet Walter as Margaret Thatcher.
Frears is the modern master of the political drama. In 2018, he directed the marvellous, incredibly funny story of the Jeremy Thorpe scandal, A Very English Scandal, on BBC1.
He has conquered the big screen, too, in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), Prick Up Your Ears (1987), Dangerous Liaisons (1988) and the best film depiction of our late monarch in The Queen(2006), starring Helen Mirren.
In the flesh, he is alarmingly modest, putting down his success to terrific writers and actors. Well, someone’s got to choose them. And getting the right ones doesn’t happen all that often.
We salute you, Stephen Frears.
