Churchill's Secret


Churchill's Secret is a British drama television film first broadcast on ITV1 on 28 February 2016. The screenplay was written by Stewart Harcourt based on the book The Churchill Secret: KBO by Jonathan Smith. It stars Michael Gambon as Winston Churchill and Romola Garai as Millie Appleyard, his nurse. Production was supported by PBS, which screened the film as part of its Masterpiece anthology.

Plot

In summer 1953, some eighteen months after Churchill has become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for a second time, he suffers a serious stroke. Although his illness is kept as secret as possible, his political friends and foes begin to plot his successor when it is unclear whether he will recover or not. His wife takes him to their country home, where he is nursed back to health by Nurse Millie Appleyard.

Cast

Gambon's casting was announced in May 2015. In June, it was announced that the actress Romola Garai had taken the role of Millie Appleyard.
Filming took place at West London Film Studios for various interior shots.