#peter clement

there’s something about julia and megan as foils to each other and being women in the 80s in an industry that was so male dominated and having to change themselves accordingly to get ahead, at the expense of their male counterparts. how they both became more like the person they’d lost, julia trying to be the friendly, entertaining one like peter as well as the smart professional one, megan becoming more jaded and less tolerant just like jeremy. only julia actively tried to achieve this persona whereas for megan it just sort of happened. but megan had no role in the loss of jeremy, she only had to deal with the aftermath and it was that that subconsciously shaped her that way. whereas julia was directly responsible for peter’s death and this new persona she had to take on was a consequence of it. these changes were a punishment and a constraint for julia, while for megan they finally helped her feel freer.

the similarities between peter and jeremy too. both at one point the best in the business at what they did, trusted and adored by the nation, by no means perfect and extremely rough around the edges but able to get away with it because they were men and less criticised for everything they did. they both had a commitment to the truth and valued honesty above all else, and part of their tragic downfall is them realising that they’d failed people and lost sight of the truth - peter’s guilt over not being able to stop the bombs, jeremy’s breakdown when he realises that he’s contributed to the news’ downfall. they both truly were, as alan says, ‘too honest for politics’. and because they’re less scrutinised for their shortcomings they have room to fully express this value and cling to it till the end. megan and julia however, are in a more precarious position, and this increased outside scrutiny coupled with their ambition makes them willing to be more flexible, go along with things a bit more if it will help them succeed.

it’s also interesting how jeremy at the beginning is shown to feel threatened by megan’s rise in her career but peter is only ever shown to have embraced and encouraged julia, especially in bits of your life. he wants julia to succeed and does his best to make sure she is respected as she deserves, a length not many men of the time, especially peter’s time, would have gone to. he’s a dab hand in entertainment tv and so he reassures her and helps her through her uncomfortableness, and julia clearly values his presence a lot. peter admires julia and is proud of what she’s achieved and what they’re going to continue to achieve together - his smug smile when he casually tells eamon he just insulted ‘the next prime minister’!!