The Lady Magazine

19 February 2016

Dear Readers, Very few can claim to have had as long, or as event-filled, a life as Winston Churchill. As a young man he took part in the last major British cavalry charge, was taken prisoner reporting on the Boer War and lived long enough to see man embark on space travel and the world besieged by Beatlemania. And, as a captivating new television film reveals, he also survived several strokes, including, in 1953, a serious stroke from which he never fully recovered, while serving a last term as prime minister. Michael Gambon plays him with dignity and gravitas, applying the same attention to detail he brought to his recent portrayal of the bumbling Private Godfrey in the recent film of Dad’s Army. Churchill’s secret was kept from the nation with the help of a team of discreet doctors. Our cover star Hugh Laurie’s less than discreet character Dr Gregory House may have seen his last patient, but Laurie is never off our screens for long and returns on Sunday as a baddie in search of secrets in a new John le Carré TV spy thriller. I for one can’t wait, not least as I have long had a blush-making crush on him. There, that’s my secret out! Until next week, best wishes, Sam Taylor