One day in October 1989 a man and a woman met in a London television studio to talk. The set was plain, stripped of all but the essentials, and the lighting simple.

While it looked for all the world like an unremarkable occasion, British television history was being made. This week, 36 years on, Channel 4 devotes two hours of prime time to that brief encounter between the interviewer Brian Walden and the then prime minister Margaret Thatcher. Now hailed as the gold standard of long-form political interviewing, some will no doubt use the drama to once again mourn its passing.

Nixon and Frost, Maitlis and Andrew (twice) now Brian and Maggie, dramatists’ fascination with “sit-downs” shows no sign of abating. It can only be a matter of time before BBC Scotland announces a six-part series based on Martin Geissler’s latest tussle with Shona Robison.

Why the interest? In Brian and Maggie, starring Steve Coogan and Harriet Walter in the title roles, written by James Graham (Brexit: The Uncivil War, Sherwood) and directed by Stephen Frears, the talent alone should ensure a decent-sized audience.

The makers of Brian and Maggie believe long-form interviewing is essential to a healthy democracy. As one character says, it “facilitates mass comprehension”. Walden puts it better: “It helps folk understand what the hell is going on”.

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We could all do with that, no argument there. But is an hour’s head-to-head the best way of explaining complex subjects and holding the powerful to account? It works with the famous clashes, but there have only been........

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