Thatcher and the Failed Coup (BBC3 Investigates)
BBC3 Television
24 January 2005
Programme made for BBC’s now defunct BBC3 Investigates series.
For the last 10 months, detail after detail about the disastrous attempt to mount a coup in Equatorial Guinea has been leaking into the public arena.
But with access to boxes full of internal documents from the operation, this film blows the lid off the coup, meeting the key players and dishing the dirt. It tells the inside story of international power play, oil-fuelled greed, men with guns and the son of the former British Prime Minister.
Fronted by Alex Millar, this film puts together the jigsaw of what happened, why, and who knew about it. Filmed in London, Washington DC, Malabo (Equatorial Guinea) and Pretoria in South Africa, the team met ministers, intelligence officers, top ranking US senators, diplomats, jailed participants in the coup like Nick de Toit, and men who were approached to take part in the coup and more.
Producer: Adrian Gatton
Director: Karen Walsh
Reporter” Alex Millar
Read a Guardian report about the programme US link uncovered in Thatcher’s coup plot role
Adrian Gatton 