The Life and Times of David Lloyd George

The Life and Times of David Lloyd George

Philip Madoc gives a career-best performance as one of Britain’s most revered, inspiring – and controversial – leaders in this celebrated BBC series.

Scripted by BAFTA-winning Elaine Morgan with input from leading historian A.J.P. Taylor – and with famously haunting theme music by Ennio Morricone – The Life and Times of David Lloyd George paints a multifaceted portrait of a political icon who steered Britain through the First World War and its aftermath, and whose pioneering reforms laid the foundations of the welfare state.

Brought up in a remote Welsh village, on his way to the top Lloyd George inspires both hysterical adoration and an enmity bordering on bloodlust. A passionate social reformer, his struggle to lift the spectres of poverty and the workhouse provokes the ire of the political establishment, while his indefatigable womanising fills many a gossip column; his political dexterity as the Liberal prime minister of a wartime coalition government, however, will raise him to a new level of power and influence.

DISC ONE
DON’T TRY. .DO IT The young David Lloyd George works hard at his studies, and forges a promising career as a solicitor. Women, however, prove to be a constant distraction.
Guest starring Rachel Thomas and William Thomas. Original BBC Transmission 4 March 1981

A WICKED WAR Lloyd George’s maiden speech in the House of Commons is an impassioned call for the government to take immediate action against poverty.
Guest starring Roland Culver and Ruth Madoc. Original BBC Transmission 11 March 1981

HE IS WISE AND MERCIFUL The Education Act provokes controversy, while a new arrival helps to bring about a new understanding in the Lloyd Georges’ marriage.
Guest starring Edward Judd, David Markham and Ruth Madoc. Original BBC Transmission 18 March 1981

DISC TWO
ALL FLESH IS GRASS Lloyd George campaigns against the government’s plan to fund the building of dreadnoughts at the expense of workers’ pensions.
Guest starring David Markham, Michael Cochrane and Denys Hawthorne. Original BBC Transmission 25 March 1981

WELL, WE’RE IN! As Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lloyd George fi nds himself at the centre of the Marconi share scandal – and the press calls for his resignation.
Guest starring David Markham, Michael Cochrane and Denys Hawthorne. Original BBC Transmission 1 April 1981

NO. 10 Lloyd George strikes a deal in his efforts to source raw materials desperately needed in the war effort, and meets Emmeline Pankhurst to discuss the prospect of women entering munitions factories.
Guest starring George Pravda, Jack May and Denys Hawthorne. Original BBC Transmission 8 April 1981

DISC THREE
AN HONOURABLE PEACE The collapse of the Eastern Front following the February Revolution leaves the Allied Powers in desperate need of American help; how can Lloyd George secure it?
Guest starring Fulton Mackay, Jonathan Elsom and David Markham. Original BBC Transmission 15 April 1981

WIN OR LOSE As the First World War draws to a close, internal divisions threaten to tear apart the Liberal Party.
Guest starring William Thomas, Fulton Mackay and Jonathan Elsom. Original BBC Transmission 22 April 1981

FOOTNOTES OF HISTORY With the death of his wife, Margaret, Lloyd George is now free to marry his loyal mistress, Frances.
Guest starring Ray Smith, William Hootkins and David Troughton. Original BBC Transmission 29 April 1981