Scoop is a biographical play based on Prince Andrew’s catastrophic Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis.
Gillian Anderson and Rufus Sewell will star in the Netflix feature, directed by Philip Martin (The Crown) and written by Peter Moffatwhich, set to premiere next month.
Five years after the television event, viewers will discover more about what transpired behind the scenes to get the Duke of York for the sit-down interview.
It will look at ‘navigating Palace vetoes, to breaking through to Prince Andrew’s inner circle, the high-stakes negotiations and intensity of rehearsal – to the jaw-dropping interview itself’ while highlighting ‘the journalists whose tenacity and guts broke through the highest of ceilings’.
While we wait, let’s take a look at everything we know so far about the programme…
When will Scoop be released on Netflix?
Mark your calendars on April 5th, when the one-hour and 42-minute title will be available on the streaming service.
What is the drama about?
The video is based on former Newsnight booker Sam McAllister’s biography, Scoops: Behind The Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews. It focuses on her account of how BBC2 documentary Prince Andrew & the Epstein Scandal came to air on November 16, 2019.It is a fictionalised account of ‘the scoop of the decade’ and Prince Andrew’s potential motives for deciding to do it.
During the 58-minute broadcast interview that served as the basis for the Netflix film, Emily pressed Prince Andrew about his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in August 2019.
Prince Andrew was referenced in Virginia Roberts’ court statement, in which she alleged Epstein trafficked her to him for sex when she was 17. He refuted the charges and claimed never to have met her.
In a remarkable occasion, Prince Andrew denied claims that he was ‘profusely sweating’ during their encounter.
‘I have a peculiar medical condition which is that I don’t sweat or I didn’t sweat at the time,’ he told Emily.
‘I didn’t sweat at the time because I had suffered what I would describe as an overdose of adrenaline in the Falklands War when I was shot at and I simply… it was almost impossible for me to sweat.’
He also said he had been at ‘Pizza Express in Woking’ on March 10 2001 – the date the allegations were said to have taken place.
In May 2020, Prince Andrew indefinitely withdrew from his public roles.
Who is in the cast?
Billie Piper, who has previously acted in I Hate Suzie and Secret Diary of a Call Girl, will play the tough Sam, who was important in getting the interview with Prince Andrew.
Gillian has already portrayed a royal, Princess Margaret, on The Crown and will now switch sides when she questions Prince Andrew, played by Rufus from The Diplomat.
Keeley Hawes (Bodyguard, Spooks) will play Prince Andrew’s former private secretary, Amanda Thirsk. Sex Education actor Connor Swindells will portray Jae Donnelly, the photographer who got photographs of Prince Andrew walking with Epstein in a New York park in 2010, as featured in the interview.
The cast includes Golden Globe-nominated performer Romola Garai (Emma, The Hour, Becoming Elizabeth) as then-Newsnight Editor Esme Wren, and Charity Wakefield (Sense & Sensibility and The Great) as Princess Beatrice.
Is there a trailer?
There sure is and you can watch it below.
‘One hour of TV can change everything,’ Billie Piper’s character Sam begins. In the teaser, she is warned about chasing an impossible goal but ploughs on regardless with meetings at Buckingham Palace, and private meetings with royals.
The programme also implies that Prince Andrew originally felt the interview went well before the public outcry.
Rufus is completely transformed for the role with the help of prosthetics. He was able to get used to the change in appearance by watching it happen ‘layer by layer’ over hours: ‘It feels like your own face, and luckily they let me just go off and just get used to the feeling of it.’
What have Emily Maitlis and Prince Andrew said about Scoop?
In an interview with GQ when the casting was announced, Emily shared how her sons had mixed reactions.
‘I have teenage sons, so that was hormonally complicated,’ she joked.
‘But I’ve stayed right away from the project actually.
‘I haven’t seen the script. She could be playing me as a dipsomaniac for all I know.’
Prince Andrew has not commented on the upcoming release.
Scoop will be streaming on Netflix on April 5.
Source My Celebrity Life.