Mike Yarwood - Decline

Decline

Yarwood later defected to Thames Television but saw his career go into decline in the early 1980s. Most of his most famous subjects, such as Heath and Wilson, retired from public life or died and he was unable to master new prominent figures, most significantly, the country's first woman Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher (she was played on his show by Janet Brown). Also with the emergence of alternative comedy in the 80s which took a far more mordant and satirical attitude towards politicians (Yarwood saw himself as an all round family entertainer rather than a satirist), his career never recovered and the loss of some of his most loved characters and its fragility was directly linked to the politicians he impersonated. In addition, his battle with alcoholism and stage fright further affected his career, making him unreliable, temperamental and affecting the quality of his output. It also contributed to the break-up of his marriage in 1985.

His Thames TV show was cancelled at the end of 1987, and he concentrated on stage work. However, subsequent attempts to resurrect his television career failed, as a new generation of sharper political satirists made Yarwood's lightweight look-who-I-can-do style of comedy seem dated and weak. However, he did make an appearance on the satirical show Have I Got News for You in November 1995.

In the mid-1990s, Yarwood had the chance to return to the stage as prime minister John Major, but failed to re-establish himself before Major's premiership ended. He claimed that one of the difficulties in impersonating John Major and Tony Blair was that they were "nice guys".

In July 1990 Yarwood suffered a mild heart attack. The following year, 1991, he gave up alcohol. He has been teetotal ever since. In October 1999, he underwent treatment for depression at the Priory Clinic, Roehampton.