BBC condemned over 'sick' Thatcher assassination story
The BBC has drawn fire from certain elements of the media over its decision to broadcast a "mischievous" radio story imagining the assassination of Margaret Thatcher.
The Assassination Of Margaret Thatcher by Hilary Mantel will feature in Radio Four's Book At Bedtime slot.
Lord Tebbit told the Mail on Sunday:
Lord Bell also told the newspaper that the BBC is "inevitably going to be accused of political bias", adding: "If it really was independent it would avoid doing things that were provocative."
But a BBC spokesman said Mantell's short story was of "of significant interest to the public".
The broadcast from Mantel's collection of short stories will go out in the week of January 5 and will be read by Dame Harriet Walter.
BBC Radio 4 Publicity said online: "In Hilary Mantel's mischievous story, a knock at the door announces an unexpected visitor who has plans to alter the course of history as people know it.
"The stories selected from Mantel's collection The Assassination Of Margaret Thatcher are dark and sharply observed.
"From the middle-class woman with powerful feelings about a former prime minister to the woman trapped in her apartment in Jeddah to the two young girls who during the heat of the summer holidays venture into forbidden territory, each of the stories deals with psychological unease, and at the same time is wickedly witty."
Thatcher's biography was Book Of The Week on Radio 4 when it was published.
Two-time Man Booker Prize winner Mantel made her name dissecting the 16th century court intrigues of King Henry VIII's adviser Thomas Cromwell.