JEREMY IRONS - IRONS BLASTS THATCHER FOR DUMBING DOWN BRITISH TV

IRONS BLASTS THATCHER FOR DUMBING DOWN BRITISH TV

Emmy Award winner JEREMY IRONS has launched an attack on former British Prime Minister MARGARET THATCHER - for dumbing down television. Irons, who picked up an honour for the Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries at the Emmys last night (27AUG06), spoke backstage about his disappointment at the state of British TV. The actor fears there are too many networks operating in his homeland, and he's convinced that was part of Thatcher's plan to take away the cultural and political importance of TV stars. Irons ranted, "Mrs Thatcher destroyed our television in England by bleeding them (networks) of their money, basically, and allowing multiple channels. "It was only the other day that it occurred to me that she did it because what it did, it takes the power away from television. "Because, if you have five channels, then what people on television say has an importance. If you have 79 channels it doesn't matter so much."