The Beeb are having a good run at the moment with dramas about influential women. Two weeks ago we had one about Mary Whitehouse, last week it was Florence Nightingale, this week it's Margaret Thatcher.

Mind you, it's a Thatcher that you probably won't recognise, for this is not the Iron Lady or even the Milk Snatcher, but a young, sexy, flirtatious grocer's daughter from Grantham. Margaret Roberts - an ambitious chemist with her heart set on entering Parliament - was apparently the sort of woman that men of a difficult age in the 1950s used to go google-eyed about. And in this light-hearted drama - a lot of tosh really - Maggie uses her undeniable charms to get her way, gradually winning a Tory seat in Finchley in 1958 after a ten-year struggle. Along the way she picks up a husband, winds up a number of old buffer Tories and wins the hearts and minds of many female (and male) Conservative supporters.

Along with a sharp script and some neat period touches, there's some superb acting. Andrea Riseborough (pictured) is terrific as Margaret Thatcher, imbuing the character with tremendous charisma, perfectly capturing Maggie's measured plummy tones. Played here as a bumbling, gallivanting playboy, Dennis Thatcher (Rory Kinnear) is also a delight, while Sam West is great as mysterious ("is he batting for the other side"?) Ted Heath.

The only downside is when the satire tries too hard, such as the suggestion that Maggie and Ted might have had something going. Yeah, right. And some of the "in" jokes may be too clever-clever for their own good. I loved the one towards the end, though. The young Thatcher family is on holiday by the sea. Maggie hears that a general election has been called and needs to return to London immediately. But the Iron Lady's plans are thwarted; her little son Mark has gone AWOL, missing in the sand dunes...

Good fun and laughable nonsense.

Reviewer - Paul Strange