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Mike Leigh

The film director talks to Matthew Sweet about his career and his approach to dramatising history in his new film Peterloo which depicts the 1819 massacre at a rally in Manchester

The film director talks to Matthew Sweet about his career and his approach to dramatising history. His new film Peterloo depicts the 1819 massacre at a rally in Manchester where a crowd of 60,000–80,000 were demanding the reform of parliamentary representation. It follows his film about the painter Mr Turner and the 2004 film Vera Drake which depicted the 1950s - a period when abortions were illegal in England.

Peterloo is in UK cinemas from 2 November
Jacqueline Riding's Peterloo - The Story of the Manchester Massacre is available now

Producer: Debbie Kilbride

Release date:

Available now

46 minutes

Podcast