Who would have thought that a musical centred around the controversial Prince Andrew was going to air on TV?
That unconventional notion has become a reality in a programme due to air on Channel 4 tonight, with Kieran Hodgson taking on the role of the disgraced royal, as seen in a recently-released trailer.
The musical extravaganza has been described by the broadcaster as a ‘hilarious, all-singing, all-dancing reimagining of the Duke of York’s very public fall from grace’, with a cast also including Munya Chawawa, Harry Enfield and Joe Wilkinson.
The farcical show will feature an amalgamation of archival footage and pantomime-esque performances, with real-life events due to include moments including the Duke of York’s disastrous Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis.
So who is Kieran, the lead actor in the widely-anticipated production?
Who is Kieran Hodgson?
Throughout his career, Kieran, 34, – who grew up in West Yorkshire – has become known for his comedic performances.
The University of Oxford-educated actor proved a massive hit when he performed his first solo show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival called French Exchange, which told a familiar tale of a student going on a French exchange trip when they were studying for their GCSEs.
He recently appeared in the comedy mystery movie See How They Run opposite Saoirse Ronan and Sam Rockwell, as well as starring in sitcom Two Doors Down from 2017 to 2022.
He starred in the 2013 comedy Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, while two years later, his how Lance, which told the life story of Lance Armstrong, was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award.
Kieran is familiar with portraying real-figures, having portrayed various UK politicians from the 1970s in his 2018 Edinburgh Fringe show 75.
The actor recently spoke out about his decision to play Prince Andrew in the Channel 4 musical, admitting that he was ‘extremely nervous’.
‘In fact I’m more nervous about this than anything I’ve done before,’ he confessed to The Times.
He continued: ‘The show is a real tightrope walk. It’s up to the viewing public to decide whether we fell off the tightrope or not.
‘But I think if you are trying to carry the torch for satire, in a humble way trying to follow on from, I don’t know, Gulliver’s Travels or Dr Strangelove, on some level there ought to be anger. Otherwise what are you doing it for?’
Kieran added that he doesn’t ‘envy’ being born a royal in real life, describing it as a ‘bizarre and monstrous fatee’.
‘To have your whole perception of the world and your place in it warped from the very start. And to emerge from it with anything like a grounding or an understanding of your context is a huge achievement. So as much as we ought to be appalled, we oughtn’t be quite so surprised that this system generated such a disaster,’ he remarked.
Prince Andrew: The Musical airs tonight on Channel 4 at 9pm.
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