How the BBC obtained the bombshell interview with Prince Andrew about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

When Prince Andrew made the decision to go on BBC TV programme Newsnight 5 years ago, he thought he was going on to clear things up regarding his friendship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, only to make things much, much worse. ‘Scoop’ is a movie based on the now infamous interview, adapted from a book by Newsnight producer Sam McAlister (played well here by Billie Piper), and it covers both the interview itself and the process leading up to persuading Andrew to come on the show.

The performances are excellent, with Rufus Sewell particularly terrific in embodying Prince Andrew, while I especially liked Keeley Hawes as his private secretary who it’d be fair to say is a little naïve in allowing herself to be manipulated by McAlister. Gillian Anderson plays interviewer Emily Maitlis and I think she hasn’t realised she isn’t still playing Margaret Thatcher on ‘The Crown‘, such is her icy demeanour (this may say more about McAlister’s views on Maitlis than Anderson’s portrayal – hard to say).

The interview itself is played verbatim with the moments people remember most being recreated, but for the most part this is a fairly by the numbers movie with little new to say about this saga. I saw someone describe this as like a bonus episode of ‘The Crown’ and it does feel like that, particularly akin to the later series which became a lot more salacious and focused on the tabloid-esque antics of the Royal Family. It is a bit self-righteous at times with the Newsnight team, which is not unexpected given it’s based on McAlister’s book, but it makes for a mostly entertaining look at how such a high-profile interview comes together behind the scenes.

I think the key takeaway is that much as discovered at the time, the Royals are not normal people, and they haven’t coped overly well with being subjected to the scrutiny of the modern world with 24-hour news cycles and social media. None more so than Andrew, whose hubris in taking this interview masked a desperate naivety about the world outside his privileged bubble. Whether you think he is guilty of poor judgment or much worse, ‘Scoop’ adds little new to the story but it’s still sometimes fun to revisit a relatively big moment in recent cultural history.

Rating: 3/5

Directed By: Philip Martin

Starring: Gillian Anderson, Keeley Hawes, Billie Piper and Rufus Sewell

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt21279806/