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Surprisingly I enjoyed this more than some of the other movies about Churchill recently. Probably because it doesn't go over familiar ground that has been done to death. This movie concerns a stroke he had. His party's attempted to cover it up. Another interesting aspect is his children's reactions to his illness and recovery. It's not a flattering portrayal of his family life but as we do know there were some alcohol problems with his children.

Michael Gambon acts very well even if he isn't physically like Churchill as much as some of the other portrayals. Michael Macfayden steals some scenes as the belligerent drunk son. Lindsay Duncan is the most elegant looking Clementine of recent screen portrayals.

Worth a watch even if you think you have seen too many biopics about him.

This 100 minute long film was made for UK TV and stars the incomparable Michael Gambon as Churchill. It is 1953 and he has just suffered a second stroke. Proving that spin was alive and well even back then, the powers that be and the Tory party wanted to keep the truth hidden. So he is whisked off to his ancestral home to recover.

The film is based around the nurse who was drafted in to care for him – this is Ramola Garai ('Suffragette') who plays Millie Appleyard and she is both convincing and a lovely on screen presence. The drama unfolds around the International situation and the warming up of 'the Cold War' and domestic policies as well as the far too cosy a relationship Churchill had with the Newspaper moguls.

So is it any good? Well with a coterie of great actors it was always hard to make this fail. Lindsay Duncan plays Clemmie Churchill and is – as always- excellent. The massively talented Bill Patterson plays Lord Moran and we have 'Ripper Street's own Mathew Macfadyen playing Randolph Churchill at his swaggering best. The drama was never going to be edge of seat stuff but the performances are all solid enough to hold your attention. I actually really enjoyed it even though it could have been better, but I was hooked for the full run – recommended.

Michael Gambon as Winston and Lindsay Duncan as Clementine Churchill lead a good cast in a good recreation of the 50s and the hidden crisis that the United Kingdom had at the time. If you can imagine a situation where Barack Obama suffered a stroke and Joe Biden was also incapacitated with bad jaundice then you have some idea of what Great Britain was going through. And the media stayed silent.

After leading the Conservative Party to victory in 1951 Churchill two years later sustains a serious stroke and it's touch and go. Anthony Eden as Foreign Secretary was considered the heir apparent, in fact he had even expected to lead the party in 1951, but patiently put his ambitions on a backburner.

Alex Jennings plays an increasingly impatient Anthony Eden who felt that Churchill had just stayed on and Eden was ambitious to have his turn at the top of the greasy pole. What you're seeing here concerning them is true enough. What is not shown is that when the torch passed Eden got himself and the country in a royal mess over the Suez Canal and his government barely lasted two years.

My favorite is Michael Macfayden as Randolph Churchill. Winston's only son was the belligerent drunken lout you see here. But like his three surviving sisters could never come out from so great a shadow. Oddly enough Winston's relationship with his father Randolph was somewhat the same.

The only equivalents I can see in our history was when Grover Cleveland had that cancer operation one of the very first performed in his second term and no one knew until 20 years later. Also Churchill's counterpart FDR spent an entire month during World War II almost in seclusion at Bernard Baruch's estate in South Carolina and the public never knew at the time. Roosevelt was in almost terminal exhaustion from war leadership and he would die within two years of that.

Churchill's Secret is good history for the viewer.

The movie has some pretty good picture and landscapes and beautiful shots, actors all are stunning , romola wasnt at her best but was good, churchill himself , michel gambon has played so profissionaly and well, the mother of the family , linsay duncan was awesome and really acted well , like a strong mother and wife trying to hold the family and keep everyone calm and not to show any signs of weakness to upset or worry her dear ones, as i said in the title Matthew Macfadyen really killed it with a 10-15 min performance, churchil daughters i didnt get them , nor by acting nor the story speaking of story , well, didnt got me , i watched it for the actors , and even after finishing the movie , story never interested me.

A look at the later life of one of Britain's most famous Prime Ministers, Winston Churchill, running the country at 78, having recently had a stroke, is taken home by wife Clemmie to have absolute peace away from Cabinet. Desperately ill, he is Nursed by the wonderfully capable Nurse Millie Appleyard.

I have to say I am at a loss to read such poor reviews for Churchill's Secret, I too waited with huge anticipation for this drama, and I have to say I wasn't disappointed. A lavish production, a great story seldom told, I thought this was rather captivating. The part where Clemmie tells Millie about the death of the child was heartbreaking, but incredibly well acted.

What a phenomenal combination Michael Gambon and Lindsay Duncan are, two of my all time favourites, each showcasing their true majesty. Gambon added a gravitas, a stubbornness, and somehow a fragility into Churchill, when he is on screen, it's simple, you watch him. Lindsay Dunca, too, just awesome as his concerned, but very British wife, Clementine. Add the likes of Romola Garai, Bill Paterson and Tara Fitzgerald, and there was only really going to be one outcome.

Jonathan Smith's novel, brought beautifully to life by Stewart Harcourt and co. Worth the wait, and well worth seeing. It was moving, with a slight dash of humour, interesting, a brilliant piece of drama.

9/10

I scarcely ever like biopics, and as it turned out I wasn't going to start with "Churchill's Secret". The main reason is that they nearly always take a lend of a famous personality to provide audience motivation and engagement, rather than relying on the merits of the story and the screenplay. The Churchill legend is tapped here and it turns out to be a weak basis for a rather dull and slow movie. In some ways I didn't mind spending a couple of hours in this world, mainly because of the Chartwell setting which brought recollections of a past visit. The character actors do well with what material they have, and are well-costumed and coiffed. I think it's a weakness that the film focuses on family drama rather than evoking national and global tensions, which are referred to, but not effectively exploited. Lindsay Duncan is beautiful to look at as Clemmie, but she is rather unlikeable, which is a pity. Michael Gambon ticks a familiar box as a senior British male actor in portraying Churchill, but his depiction didn't especially evoke Churchill for me. It's a tough call, but it's one of the weaknesses making this film an "also ran".

The cast for this film was amazing. It's hard to have a declared spoiler as we generally know how the story ends from the history books. The movie allows a little glimpse into the internal family conflicts of the most famous Prime Minister in British history. I'll say that not enough explanation is given regarding concerns for Eden, who is barely visible in the film though he was arguably a major rival for the PM and trying to trip up the aging Churchill to make a name for himself. There's another movie that treats this aspect of Churchill's life more thoroughly. This film is more homey.

The Brits do television so well. This is a classic example of that. The film covers the last years of Churchill's last term as prime minister after he had suffered a stroke. It's interesting that the filmmakers would focus on a bad period in the life of a national icon yet still pay great tribute to him while also staying historically accurate. (Can you imagine, for example, Hollywood doing a film based on Ronald Reagan's last years with Alzheimer's?) Nor did they sugarcoat Churchill's dysfunctional family. Randolph comes off as an arrogant, drunken jerk, which he was. There are superb performances all around. This is a very British and a very good motion picture!

Set in 1953, Charles Sturridge's drama concentrates on one of the major political secrets of the Fifties - the stroke experienced by Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Michael Gambon), the news of which was kept from the public sphere through the machinations of his private secretary Jock Colville (Patrick Kennedy) and the powerful media barons led by Max Aitken, aka Lord Beaverbrook (Matthew Marsh).

There is a good story to tell here about politics, and the concept of releasing information on a "need to know" basis, something beloved of Sir Humphrey Appleby and his fellow civil servants in YES MINISTER. Concepts of "truth" and the public interest really do not matter; so long as the wheels of government keep running in the way they have always done, then everyone is happy. It was one of the lessons of this incident that the Conservatives and their civil servants realized that they could govern without Churchill, or his deputy Sir Anthony Eden (Alex Jennings).

Unfortunately this production misses just about every opportunity to reflect on past history. Instead Sturridge transforms it into a soupy family melodrama with echoes of THE KING'S SPEECH. Gambon makes a fair stab at Churchill, even though he looks nothing like the Old Man; but Lindsay Duncan, as Clemmie, looks to be impersonating Vanessa Redgrave (who memorably played the same role in THE GATHERING STORM (2002)) rather than developing a performance of her own. Although she protests a lot about her love for Winston, she seems more preoccupied with keeping her errant offspring under control, led by Randolph (Matthew Macfadyen) and Diana (Tara Fitzgerald). None of them, it seems, are very happy with their lives, and take every opportunity to voice their discontents. In the end we feel rather sorry for the old boy, not just because of his desire to continue in power, but because he has to contend with such an appalling family.

Stewart Harcourt's script doesn't really know whether to sympathize with Churchill or to criticize him for his self-absorption. Great man he might have been; but he seems to have been neglectful of his family. In the end Harcourt abandons this issue and opts instead for the traditional happy ending where Churchill makes a great recovery from his illness and gives a speech to the party conference in Margate.

The script is full of anachronisms; and although Sturridge makes strenuous efforts to hold our interest by using heritage film conventions such as cutaway shots of old vehicles, interior scenes with orange lights focusing on the characters' faces, and exteriors of Chartwell (where much of the production as filmed), the drama as a whole fails to come to life.

If viewers want to find out more about Churchill's life from recent films, they would be better advised to dig out THE GATHERING STORM (2002) and its sequel INTO THE STORM (2009).

When Winston Churchill was voted out of office in the British general election of 1945 his wife Clementine wanted him to retire. Sound advice you would think, after he had led the nation to victory through the five horrific years of World War II. But Winston refused to go, and in 1951 he became Prime Minister again, at the age of 76. 'Churchill's Secret' is set in the year 1953. The Prime Minister is now 78 and his health is failing.

After collapsing at a dinner at 10 Downing Street, his long serving doctor, Charles Moran (Bill Paterson), diagnoses a stroke. His incapacity poses a problem for the government because his heir apparent, Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden (Alex Jennings), is also ill. His cabinet colleagues decide to cover up the PM's health issues until a detailed diagnosis is made.

Clementine insists he is cared for at home, and Fleet Street' s press barons - including Winston's trusted wartime colleague Lord Beaverbrook - are invited there to seek their agreement to keep the PM's illness out of the newspapers.

There is extensive footage of Chartwell, Churchill's country home in the Kentish countryside. It includes beautiful gardens in which he is taken in a wheelchair by his devoted carer, Nurse Appleyard (Romala Garai)), a fictional character but probably true to life bearing in mind the miraculous recovery he ultimately made.

Churchill, played by Michael Gambon, is as feisty as ever and clearly frustrated by the dire effects of his illness. However, his nurse is equally feisty and is in no way fazed by his irritable behaviour. And when Randolph (Matthew Macfadyen), his rude and overbearing son, patronises her with 'You don't know who I am do you?' she replies 'I don't care if you 're the Queen of Sheba you're not seeing my patient at the moment.' At the end of the film, Winston tells her he could never have recovered without her and presents her with a book, with a signed message of thanks.

Like many other leaders in history Churchill doesn't want to lose power. In his case it is particularly motivated by a belief he still has important things to accomplish - notably the attainment of world peace in the light of the development of nuclear weapons. His cabinet colleagues believe he should go, particularly Anthony Eden. In one memorable scene, the old man is seen painting as he informs an exasperated Eden he is staying on. His deputy, R A Butler (Chris Larkin) and long serving PPS Jock Colville (Patrick Kennedy,) also counsel retirement, but Winston is determined to speak at the forthcoming Conservative Party conference.

One by one Churchill's daughters arrive - Sarah (Rachael Stirling), Diana (Tara Fitzgerald) and Mary (Daisy Lewis) - and their conversations reveal their mental health has been substantially strained through living in the shadow of their father's fame and eminence. They fight both amongst themselves and with Randolph. Sarah chides her brother about his failure to win an election, while he positions her as an actress in plays and films that nobody has ever heard of. They all disparage Clementine, beautifully played by Lindsay Duncan. But she takes comfort from Dr Moran's assertion that she is her husband's 'rock'.

Directed by Charles Sturridge, 'Churchill's Secret' is a very well researched movie. Its historical accuracy is complemented by a convincing cast and excellent screenplay by Stewart Harcourt. It contains a lot of aspects of Churchill's life and family that I for one have not been aware until now. One to treasure without doubt.

Having recently read biographies of Rab Butler, Harold MacMillan and Anthony Eden, I had a degree of foreknowledge about the events depicted in this ITV drama. Did I then or now think it warranted a two hour drama, well, no I didn't and having watched it, I think so even less. I looked forward to a behind-the-scenes insight into the political machinations of the time, which saw the news of the P.M.'s stroke blacked out by the media while he made a slow recovery from his illness. In the wings was his long-time second-in-command, Anthony Eden, itching to get into number 10, but, by an unfortunate coincidence, he was also also a recovering invalid from a botched operation carried out abroad.

All I got here though was about two thirds of the time devoted to the Churchill family dynamics as three very different daughters and one hard-drinking son converge on the Churchill country house in Chartwell, with the other third dealing more with the politics culminating in Churchill recovering sufficiently to deliver his party leader speech at the Conservative Party Conference at Margate in 1953.

I found the inter-family drama to be boring and uninteresting. The very obvious point is made that Churchill's personality dominated those of his wife and children as they unattractively find ways to bicker amongst themselves even as their father fights death in the same house. As for the political background, Rab Butler is dismissed as a non-entity, Anthony Eden appears only fleetingly and Harold MacMillan doesn't show at all. Just when you think you're being served up a family melodrama, the film does an abrupt about turn to focus on Churchill's return to health and political action.

What we also get is the creation of a fictitious nurse who is brought in to provide special care for the great man and predictably becomes a lightning rod between the sometimes difficult relationship of Churchill and his wife Clementine. As a device, I found it an unnecessary distraction. There's also a lot of questionable guff floating about too as the ailing P.M. recalls childhood memories in his distracted state concerning the early death of an infant girl-friend which causes him to sing "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" on occasion.

I wasn't impressed with the acting either. Martin Gambon looks nothing like Churchill, a difference highlighted all the more as a portrait of the real Winston is for some reason prominently displayed in some scenes and besides barely tries to reproduce his master's distinctive voice. Lindsay Duncan is similarly unconvincing as the wife / matriarch figure Clemmy Churchill and acts like she's permanently sitting on a very sharp pin, while Nurse Appleyard could have walked off the set of "Call The Midwife" so stereotypical is her character. Did I mention the (in)action was slow and ponderous too?

This was thin fare in my opinion and added little to my insight of either the 1950's political situation, the internal workings of the Churchill family or the character of a great man in decline.

If you rangefinder 8,you either are not British or do not know your History,or both!

I looked forward to this production with anticipation of something great, particularly with the wealth of acting talent on hand. But oh dear! What a disappointment!

Michael Gambon/Churchill took to his bed and seemed to want to stay there and forget about the whole thing.

The rest of the cast looked equally bored and I'm not surprised. Even their combined talent couldn't rescue this tedious and utterly pointless badly-constructed and ill-scripted piece of alleged 'factual' drama in which one of the central characters...the nurse...was actually fictitious. As for the plot...what plot? There's very little plot in it to discuss.

No doubt there will be those who will drool over it and call it 'art', but it's already gone to the back-burner of my mind as easily forgettable, and never to be watched again.

In short it was a waste of time and effort for both cast and viewer.

There is very little that is factual or worthwhile about this film. Churchill was not only a key architect of D-Day, he was central to its success. He was not the dithering, raving fool relegated to the sidelines of launching Operation Overlord as portrayed here.

The story of an angst-ridden Churchill, hysterically raving against the Normandy invasion and being soundly chastised by Eisenhower and Montgomery, is pure fiction posing egregiously as "history". There is little to commend this film as it laboriously drags itself through one of the most momentous periods in true history. The characters do not reveal their true nature but are simple, badly drawn (and highly erroneous) caricatures, the story telling is pure torture and its irrelevance to a meaningful interpretation of history and the men who made it cannot be understated.

I cannot help but find it offensive that this movie could ever have been made under the title of Churchill, as if this is the definitive interpretation of the man. It is a travesty, adding nothing of value to the volumes of historical analyses that have taken him as their subject.

Settling down for a nostalgic immersion in a post war period drama, with a martini in my hand, I was surprised to be nodding off after ten minutes or so. I now realize the potential of this movie as a sleeping pill and intend to keep it in the drug cabinet. I have recently watched too many of Michael Gambon's performances slide into apparent mordancy with dismay. A bad double episode of Downton without Maggie Smith is one way to describe this tedious rubbish. There was so much dramatic potential in the story which was routinely squandered, presumably in order to dumb it down for a broader audience. I would have thought that a two hour monologue by the late Les Dawson about his piles would have been more entertaining. Do something else. Don't waste an evening on this.