# Gillian Anderson in terrible in "The Crown" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, netflix\ **Created:** [December 1, 2020, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880 "2020-12-01T01:40:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880/22 "2020-12-01T16:58:24Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > I thought the portrayal was pretty good - although Thatcher only spoke that slowly in big speeches. In normal situations her speech was nowhere near as slow and deliberate as Anderson portrayed it. … Yeah - that’s the sort of understandable “exaggeration” I suspected. I was surprised there was no mention of the sinking of the Sheffield during the Falklands was… ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880/23 "2020-12-01T17:04:08Z")
> [@CardboardBoxx](#): > > I agree though that Morgan is very partisan in his treatmenbt of her. Morgan is being criticized for becoming increasingly divorced from truth, and fairly so. In the season finale he implies that Prince Philip threatened Diana’s life, which is ludicrous and slanderous. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880/24 "2020-12-01T17:07:24Z")
This song is about Thatcher. … We’re gonna have a party when you are gone Desecrate your grave and sing this song … [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cjhMm9EW2fM/hqdefault.jpg "danielle dax - bad miss M") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjhMm9EW2fM) ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880/25 "2020-12-01T18:40:56Z")
I think Gillian Anderson did a very good job. Sure she likely exaggerated her public speaking voice as her private voice, but that’s not rare in portayals - I mean look at Lithgow’s Churchill in S1. I have a feeling Anderson will be nominated for many awards for her Thatcher and will win a lot of them. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880/26 "2020-12-01T19:07:31Z")
I haven’t seen any of this and my view of Thatcher is about as jaundiced as it is possible to be - so I think it’s not a good idea for me to contribute to this thread about her and her policies, since this is after all, about the performance of an actress. I can point you to a huge managed change in her tone - in her first term she really came across as a hectoring and nagging know it all through her speech patterns - she was coached to change that public perception but I doubt very much that it changed her personality or political outlook. [https://www.politics.co.uk/news/2012/03/14/thatcher-s-vocal-coach-was-right-low-voices-help-win-electio](https://www.politics.co.uk/news/2012/03/14/thatcher-s-vocal-coach-was-right-low-voices-help-win-electio) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880/27 "2020-12-01T19:42:33Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > This song is about Thatcher. > > … > > We’re gonna have a party when you are gone > Desecrate your grave and sing this song > … I think the most famous song from the time about Maggie Thatcher was Elvis Costello’s “Tramp The Dirt Down”: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/9t4-zDem1Sk/hqdefault.jpg "Elvis Costello - Tramp the Dirt Down") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t4-zDem1Sk) And then there was “Margaret On The Guillotine” by Morissey: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hsq3H_6XuFA/hqdefault.jpg "Morrissey - Margaret on the Guillotine") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsq3H_6XuFA) To summarize: Maggie Thatcher was LOATHED by the majority of the British pop and rock scene. They hated her guts. And rightly so. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880/28 "2020-12-01T19:45:23Z")
> [@Made\_in\_Macau](#): > > I had a delivery yesterday and the driver was a man who I’d seen but never spoken to before. Once he’d finished the delivery he said - unprompted - ‘Thatcher would’ve had this covid done by now. She’d have had the army on the streets stopping people larking about. God, how I wish the equivalent demographic of people in America had the same attitude. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880/29 "2020-12-01T21:25:21Z")
It should say “can’t simply” that’s why it makes little sense. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880/30 "2020-12-01T22:28:51Z")
No worries–I interpreted it sarcastically, meaning “can’t.” My quibble is with the other parts of the analogy. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2020, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880/31 "2020-12-01T22:48:18Z")
This Stalin conversation is highly amusing to me, because the film “Death to Stalin” which I thought was well done and hilarious quite famously had none of the actors trying to mimic their real life counterparts (think of Steve Buscemi playing himself while portraying Nikita Khrushchev) ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880/32 "2020-12-02T17:18:42Z")
Death of Stalin is awesome ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2020, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880/33 "2020-12-02T19:31:15Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > And then there was “Margaret On The Guillotine” by Morissey: Let’s not forget Mother Knows Best by Richard Thompson: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/CWjm6XdtEb0/hqdefault.jpg "Richard Thompson - Mother Knows Best") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWjm6XdtEb0) and Brenda’s Iron Sledge by Robyn Hitchcock: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5QU_qjH8J2I/hqdefault.jpg "Robyn Hitchcock - Brendas Iron Sledge - (Gotta Let This Hen Out, 1985)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QU_qjH8J2I) ---
**Author:** ![Lantern2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lantern2/32/3010_2.png) [@Lantern2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern2)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880/34 "2020-12-04T20:26:21Z")
Personally I thought Anderson was OK. She is not as good as Meryl Streep but who is? I also disagree that Thatcher’s portrayal is one-sided. For example in the Balmoral test episode she is shown as a radical leader taking on a complacent elite. In the Falklands war scenes she is portrayed as tough and decisive. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2020, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880/35 "2020-12-05T02:00:05Z")
There were some scenes that very sympathetic to Thatcher, showing her as an outsider to the establishment who wasn’t quite au fait with the way the Royals acted - Thatcher was awkward, but I felt sympathy for her, which is not something I could have felt if the show and GA were portraying her wholeheartedly negatively. And it showed the build up to the Falklands War, and Thatcher’s leadership then, in a very balanced way. I’m not sure what you expected. Has anyone, even among those who admire her, ever said she was _nice_? I’ve heard people say she was charismatic, but likeable, no. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2020, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880/36 "2020-12-05T05:56:35Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > There were some scenes that very sympathetic to Thatcher, showing her as an outsider to the establishment who wasn’t quite au fait with the way the Royals acted - Thatcher was awkward, but I felt sympathy for her, which is not something I could have felt if the show and GA were portraying her wholeheartedly negatively. The bit when her and Denis were at Balmoral was certainly sympathetic. Her and Denis were like kids who’ve transferred into a new school, and the cool kids and their inside jokes make little effort to welcome them. You can totally understand why she booked it back to London as soon as she could arrange an excuse. The extent of the conflict between her and Elizabeth over the South Africa issue was exaggerated by a factor of a hundred, and it’s worth noting that Elizabeth’s concern there, IRL, was really not the plight of black South Africans; she wanted to keep the Commonwealth together. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880/37 "2020-12-07T17:26:36Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > it’s worth noting that Elizabeth’s concern there, IRL, was really not the plight of black South Africans; she wanted to keep the Commonwealth together. It’s all conjecture, of course, as QE’s views are never on record. Perhaps our great-grandchildren will get to read her diaries in the British Library. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880/38 "2020-12-07T17:30:13Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The bit when her and Denis were at Balmoral was certainly sympathetic. Her and Denis were like kids who’ve transferred into a new school, and the cool kids and their inside jokes make little effort to welcome them. I saw it differently. I thought it showed a failure to prepare. It isn’t as though she lacked people she could ask about what went on there, what to pack, etc. But instead, the just made their own assumptions and were put out when the assumptions proved problematic. It is as tho the new kid failed to ask for pointers from their neighbor who had recently attended the same school. ---
**Author:** ![mundylion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundylion/32/3604_2.png) [@mundylion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mundylion)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880/39 "2020-12-07T23:58:46Z")
It was indeed a failure to prepare, certainly a bad mark for whatever staff she has. What were they doing? But that doesn’t alter the fact that the Royals’ treatment of their guests was abominable. They should be ashamed. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880/40 "2020-12-08T08:34:32Z")
Y’all know this is a figment of the writer’s imagination, right? I’ve heard that Thatcher hated going to Balmoral, but because she found it a waste of her valuable governing time. Not because she was a social outcast. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880/41 "2020-12-08T13:59:53Z")
Yes, the writers take enormous liberties with actual history in order to “improve” the story. They had Thatcher’s son’s disappearance and the beginning of the Falklands crisis happening simultaneously, strongly implying her actions were negatively influenced by her worry for her son. In reality, his disappearance/rescue happened months before the Falklands crisis started. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gillian-anderson-in-terrible-in-the-crown/926880.md?page=3)