 Among the more prominent names suggested as real @-@ life models for Widmerpool have been Edward Heath , the British prime minister 1970 – 74 , and Reginald Manningham @-@ Buller who was Britain 's Attorney General in the 1950s . Others of Powell 's contemporaries have made claims to be the character 's source , although Powell gave little encouragement to such speculation . Widmerpool has been portrayed in two British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC ) radio dramatisations of the novel sequence ( 1979 – 82 and 2008 ) and in Channel 4 's television filmed version broadcast in 1997 . 
