EVERYONE has an opinion on Margaret Thatcher - well every adult at least.
Depending on your point of view, she's the Iron Lady who made Britain great again or Thatcher the Milk Snatcher, who crushed the miners and let Irish 'freedom fighters' starve to death in prison.
The lady who either led us to victory in the Falklands, or into a needless war.
Others see her as a legendary peeress who struck a blowfor women by becoming the first - and so far only - female British prime minister, or as a tyrant who wouldn't listen to advice and 'handbagged' Monogram Denim Bags her male Cabinet into submission.
But all that is a long way in the future as the credits roll on BBC Four's new drama The Long Walk To Finchley, which ends when Mrs Thatcher's 10-year battle to become an MP is over, but she definitely hasn't won the war.
The drama is a fictional re-imagining of Thatcher as a young woman, played by Andrea Riseborough (seen last in Mike Leigh's film Happy-Go-Lucky and BBC Four's The Secret Life of Mrs Beeton).
Whatever your political persuasion, this film should leave you in no doubt about how hard she fought to become Britain's first female prime minister. "Hopefully people will see there's a reason for her becoming the kind of woman she developed into," Andrea explains.
She continues: "We wanted to create a character virtually unrecognisable from the leader we all remember - a young woman passionate about politics, intelligent, incredibly interested in people, social reform and the way that society works.
"Because whether you supported her or not, she was full of conviction. She genuinely believed that everything she was doing was right."
The young politician who doggedly took on five Home County Tory selection committees before winning in Finchley, inevitably displays a formidable will and deep lust for power throughout the drama.
But The Long Walk To Finchley offers us a different side to her - which Andrea admits the former leader will "probably hate on principle".
Scenes showing a young Maggie leading a conga, serving 5050 RGB Controller LD-CON-12-M drinks in a men's club and accidentally breaking MP Ted Heath's heart have already provoked criticism.
"It's her life, so if she does watch it, she'll know that it's a stretched version of the truth," admits Andrea.
"It would be wrong for anyone to judge the film on the basis of historical inaccuracy."
Beginning her political career aged 24 in 1949, grocer's daughter Thatcher was supported by her wealthy husband Denis. With the luxury of hired help, she was free to pursue a career in law and politics.
But for the first 10 years it was hard for the mother of two to penetrate the sexist, 'Old Boys' Club' of Westminster.
"The question she always came up against was how she could balance a political career with family life," says Andrea.
"That must have been exasperating. The woman slept four hours a night, looked after her twins wonderfully and although she was financially privileged, still made Denis his poached eggs and Marmite on toast every morning."
Andrea, who was only nine years old when Mrs Thatcher left office, had her work cut out to get under the skin of the famous politician.
She spent hours l
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