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TV Media Weekly | September 10 - 16, 2016 By Jacqueline Spendlove TV Media I imagine it was easier being a public figure in the '50s than it is today. Thanks to the Internet, social media and instant pho- tography, the words and actions of today's politicians and celebrities are spread far and wide almost im- mediately. Needless to say, this was not al- ways the case. Back in Winston Churchill's day, when that most venerable of men was serving as prime minister of the United King- dom for the second time, he suf- fered a debilitating stroke — and, amazingly, no one knew about it outside his inner circle. A special "Masterpiece" drama examines this time in Churchill's life, in the summer of 1953, while the PM re- learned how to speak and walk, to- tally unbeknownst to the majority of the world, or even the govern- ment. "Churchill's Secret" airs Sunday, Sept. 11, on PBS. Widely regarded as one of Brit- ish history's most influential fig- ures, Churchill has been portrayed numerous times on screen, gener- ally with his iconic cigar-mouthed, homburg-topped look. "Churchill's Secret" takes a look into a little- known period in the British Bull- dog's life, as the 78-year-old man makes a gradual and difficult re- covery from a series of strokes that very well could have killed him. He's played by master of the screen and stage Michael Gambon ("Harry Potter and the Deathly Hal- lows: Part 2," 2011), whose acting career has spanned more than half a century and has earned him countless accolades. Seldom far from the PM's side are his wife, Clementine (Lindsay Duncan, "The Honourable Woman"), private sec- retary and close friend Jock Colville (Patrick Kennedy, "Atonement," 2007) and nurse Millie Appleyard (Romola Garai, "Amazing Grace," 2006). The film is set in the summer of 1953, a little less than two years into Churchill's second run as prime minister. After suffering a stroke during a 10 Downing Street dinner, the PM loses consciousness and his speech is severely im- paired. Determined from the start to keep it from the public, he goes ahead with a Cabinet meeting the next morning, before being spirited away to Chartwell, his country seat in Kent. "He stayed at his house for months ... nobody saw him," Gam- bon told the Independent. "It's a bit odd. We wouldn't tolerate that now. If the prime minister had a stroke, we'd know about it two minutes later." To be sure, the level of discretion exercised by everyone close to the PM is impressive, with even Fleet Street being silenced, thanks to the loyalty of three of the most power- ful press barons. Most of the char- acters in the film are based on real people in Churchill's life, though Nurse Millie is fictional, invented by author Jonathan Smith for his book on which the drama is based. "When I came to write the book, I tried to see the story from the points of view of the powerful central players," the author ex- plained to the Mirror. "I also want- ed to see it as one of the PM's nurses might have done. So I took a liberty. I made up Nurse Apple- yard, the only fictional character in 'Churchill's Secret.' She was with Churchill every faltering step of the way, with every breath he took, and she helped unlock the story for me." Indeed, the respect and fond- ness that grow between the felled PM and his no-nonsense nurse are a nice infusion into a largely sad story. Transported to Chartwell without even being told for whom she would be working, Millie takes no guff, either from her often grumbly patient himself or from his boorish, wholly unpleasant son Randolph (Matthew Macfadyen, "Death at a Funeral," 2007). She sits beside him as his booze-swill- ing children bicker in the next room, is called in to join the family during movie night, and is an ever- present source of patience and for- titude as Churchill slowly recovers. But why keep it from the public at all? The man who had guided his country through the darkest days of World War II didn't want the people of England to know that their leader was — for the time be- ing, in any event — incapable of leading. Had Churchill's stroke be- come public knowledge, he could have been forced to resign. To make matters more problematic, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden (Alex Jen- nings, "The Queen," 2006) — the man expected to step in as Churchill's successor — was him- self in hospital recovering from surgery. With no one currently available to run the country, there ran the risk of a general election being called, and a scramble for leadership that could destabilize the government. So it fell to those closest to Churchill to quietly keep things running, while the majority of the nation remained blissfully un- aware that their PM was bedrid- den, relearning to speak and strug- gling to remember the most pivot- al moments and actions from the war. They undoubtedly pulled it off, since the events of "Churchill's Se- cret" have heretofore remained unknown to many. The film has al- ready aired on ITV in the U.K., and the response has been mostly posi- tive. The acting of many of the cast members has been praised, in par- ticular, with more than one critic noting that Gambon's wonderful performance allows one to forget that he really doesn't look a whole lot like Churchill. Tune in to "Masterpiece" to see "Churchill's Secret" when it makes its way across the pond Sunday, Sept. 11, on PBS. Romola Garai as seen in "Churchill's Secret" Under wraps PBS looks into a little-known period in Churchill's life 2 | Cover story Harvey Hinklemeyers Martino's 3 x 5" A/Grindstone Charlie's B/Norris Insurance 1 x 4" Expires 10/6/16

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