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Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.

This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan join Naga Munchetty to review new Channel 4 docu-series Brian & Maggie.

Starring Steve Coogan and Harriet Walter, Brian & Maggie tells the story of the infamous 1989 interview between journalist Brian Walden and then-PM Margaret Thatcher which triggered the downfall of the Iron Lady, and effectively ended their friendship.

Scott: "This is a Must Watch from me. It looks at the Frost/Nixon of that era, in 1989. Thatcher was on wobbly ground. She lost her Chancellor, Nigel Lawson, and a year later stood down as Prime Minister.

“Yet she still went on the TV to discuss it and was up against Brian Walden, a former Labour MP and now respected political journalist. This two-part drama looks at how, despite both coming from different sides politically, their lives had become fairly intertwined.

“Walden liked Thatcher because she answered the questions rather than hedged it. Thatcher admired Brian’s skill of interviewing and for taking her seriously at the start of her career. She said that he was her favourite interviewer, even though he asked tough questions. They were also connected by the fact that they both felt like outsiders throughout their career. They both honed in on the tiniest bit of details to try to outwit their opponents."

“The drama looks at the blurring between church and state. At what point do you become friends to the expense of actually being able to have journalistic and political accountability?

“Thatcher went into that 1989 interview thinking that she was going to get an easy ride from Walden, but Brian held firm and asked very tough questions. Thatcher then showed a bit of unexpected political vulnerability, which some have seen as a factor in her downfall.

“I thought it was done very well. Harriet Walter, whilst not looking like Thatcher, I think captured her mannerisms perfectly. James Graham is a great writer and in his work has been able to explore the relationship between politics and society. And he’s a great writer who understands the importance about the televisual medium.

“It is a show that I think will definitely appeal to those who are interested in politics. As an afterthought, it makes you realise that actually something like this, a long form 45 to one hour interview just doesn't happen anymore. Broadcasters don't maybe have the confidence to do them apart from maybe on Laura Kuensberg’s show on Sunday, but also on the politics side, everything is so media-controlled, politicians rarely express their honest opinions about things.

“It makes you think about what could be lost in democracy by not having these long-form interviews anymore.”

Hayley: "Well, probably the last one that was done was Prince Andrew, and that went well.”

Scott: “Very well, yeah…”

Naga: “What did you think, Hayley?”

Hayley: "Well, like you, I was buzzing about this one, and I was really excited, and I really wanted to like it more than I did."

Scott: “Oh, you didn't?”

Hayley: “No, I didn't. I thought it was more of an acting exercise for Steve Coogan and Harriet Walter. I love them both, and I thought they were great at this, but it seemed like something more for them than for us. I don't know. It felt like as soon as I started getting interested and it started getting going, it ended. Because it's a two-parter and I wanted more.

“Then I've got this little... you know how you have little quirks about things you don't like?”

Scott: “Oh, like bus routes…

Hayley: “Yeah, yeah.

“My thing is whenever there's a drama about real people, it's when they put footage of the real people at the end as a look how close we were”.

Scott: “Oh, so like The Crown, for example, they would always have them side by side?”

“But why does it frustrate you, though?”

Hayley: "So at the point where I was like 'oh, I wanted more of this', then it did the thing that annoys me, and I was like 'oh'. So it ended on a bit of a bum note. But I love James Graham, and I love everyone involved in this but it just felt a little more flat to me than I wanted it to”.

Scott: "Naga?"

Naga: "I was fascinated by it because I was really fascinated by the relationship between Brian Walton and Margaret Thatcher, not on screen during the interviews but off screen and the relationship they had as a journalist and politician and the lines that were crossed which horrified me”.

Scott: "Because there was one where there was a big speech that Thatcher had to go and do. He was literally rung hours after interviewing her.

Hayley: "Pulled him out of bed in his pyjamas...

Scott: "Saying, ‘can you write this speech?’ and he accepted.”

Naga: "I see where both of you are coming from. For me, it's absolutely a Must Watch, without a doubt. I just think it's a really good insight into their relationship. I think there's always a fascination with Margaret Thatcher anyway.

“Her look at the challenges she faced in society in terms of not being part of the establishment and her constant references to that - that was their linkage. That was where her and Brian Walden had an empathy with each other because he himself - brought up in the Midlands and went to Oxford, and always feeling like an outsider.

“In terms of commentary, I thought it was really interesting. You don't have to like Margaret Thatcher in her politics. I don't actually think that a lot of that gets rammed down your throat, which is a good thing and I agree with you - I do think it was a bit of acting masterclass that you were witnessing and both are brilliant.

“I think I wanted more of the crossing, blurring of the lines. I think that would have made it more compelling for me rather than reverting to the newsroom scenes where you saw producers working on the interviews, which you know happens, of course it does. We all have brilliant teams behind us. I just think you could have had less of that and a little bit more also about who Brian Walden was.

“Hearing that he had moved to Guernsey, seeing that he drank a lot of alcohol and someone alludes that he stank of booze when he arrived for that speech writing session. I just wondered if we could have seen a bit more of him to understand the flaws not only of her, but of him, too.”

Hayley: “I think that was my issue. When I say I wanted more, I never mean more time - it just seemed to be on one level.”

“And when the betrayal came and the betrayal was Brian doing his job, I didn't really feel it.

“That 'betrayal' would feel huge. I mean, it's tricky even in our job when we become friends with people who make TV shows, who then go on to make a bad TV show.”

Naga: “Or interviewing people we like and still having to say mean things.”

Hayley: “I still think it's a really good watch, I like the fact that we're disagreeing a bit here!”

Scott: “Yeah, I think your argument's won me over, actually.”

Naga: “Really? Oh my goodness. That was just by my charm - if you believe that, you believe anything.”

You can watch both episodes of Brian & Maggie on Channel 4 and on demand now.

But before all that, why not contact Scott and Hayley with the shows you’ve been loving, loathing or both on mustwatch@bbc.co.uk.

This week, the team reviewed The Fear Clinic: Face Your Fears and Prime Target.

Must Watch is released as a podcast every Monday evening on 大象传媒 Sounds.