Want to see how a Royal gets taken down? Watch Prince Andrew’s crazy 2019 interview with Newsnight that hammered him for his connection to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Or you can watch Scoop, a dramatic retelling of the events leading up to that infamous interview, and adapted from the memoir by Newsnight editor Sam McAlister, Scoops: Behind The Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interview.
The film centers on the insane sequence of events leading up to the BBC interview with the Duke of York, also the Queen’s son. Billie Piper stars as McAlister, with Rufus Sewell as Prince Andrew, and Gillian Anderson as interviewer Emily Maitlis.
You don’t see much of the interview in this short teaser, but it leads right up to the moment when Maitlis says “Your Royal Highness…” to start the conversation. And what a conversation it was. Andrew came across like an arrogant blowhard who thought that his bluster would shield him. He’s a powerful guy and acting tough had probably worked for him his entire life. But in this interview he just looked incredibly guilty.
The film is directed by Philip Martin, known for episodes of The Crown and the 2014 film The Forger. Peter Moffat (Hawking, Your Honor) adapted McAlister’s book for the screen.
Also in the cast are Keeley Hawes, Romola Garai, Connor Swindellis, and Charity Wakefield as Princess Beatrice.
Here’s the synopsis: Inspired by real events, SCOOP is the inside account of the tenacious journalism that landed an earth shattering interview – Prince Andrew’s (played by Rufus Sewell) infamous BBC Newsnight appearance. From the tension of producer Sam McAlister’s (played by Billie Piper) high stakes negotiations with Buckingham Palace, all the way to Emily Maitlis’ (played by Gillian Anderson) jaw dropping, forensic showdown with the Prince, SCOOP takes us inside the story, with the women who would stop at nothing to get it.
To get an interview this big, you have to be bold.
Scoop hits Netflix on April 5th.
