We're Getting Another Prince Andrew Newsnight Drama?

By Kayleigh Donaldson | TV | November 21, 2023 |

By Kayleigh Donaldson | TV | November 21, 2023 |

While Prince Andrew tries to quietly weasel his way back into public life, the job of reminding the world of his bullsh*t has fallen onto the shoulders of TV drama.

Last year, it was announced that Netflix was making a film about the behind-the-scenes planning that went into the Newsnight interview that essentially killed Andy’s already-shattered reputation. That movie will star Rufus Sewell as the Duke in what is tentatively titled Scoop. Well, now Amazon has jumped onto this bandwagon, and they’ve got Michael Sheen on their side.

Sheen, one of the nicest men in British entertainment, will play the Prince while Ruth Wilson, best known for Luther, will play Emily Maitlis, the journalist who conducted the interview. A Very Royal Scandal will be a three-part series, with Julian Jarrold directing. Among the cast are Joanna Scanlan as Andrew’s ex-private secretary Amanda Thirsk, Alex Jennings as the late Queen’s private secretary Sir Edward Young, and Eanna Hardwicke as Newsnight editor Stewart Maclean.

Blimey. First time I’ve seen this in print. What an exceptional cast. https://t.co/vtgqBSx8r0

— emily m (@maitlis) November 21, 2023

The disgraced Duke of York has been laying mostly low since a disastrous BBC interview where he bragged about not regretting his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein because he made such good business connections via the sex-trafficking child abuse offender. He also denied claims of sexual abuse made against him by Virginia Roberts, one of Epstein’s victims. His explanation involved claims that he can’t sweat and a visit to Pizza Express. It’s a trainwreck.

I’ve been skeptical about such projects and their ability to do anything other than rehash that which we already know and offer some actors an Emmy reel. But I also see value in dragging the royal family ceaselessly and without mercy. Prince Andrew is not on the Windsor frontlines making dodgy deals anymore, but he is trying to get back into the public eye. The toadying royalist press hasn’t exactly been working overtime to stop him either. They’re too busy getting mad at Meghan Markle, who has made a mere handful of public appearances over the past 12 months but is still to blame for everything wrong on the planet. It wouldn’t hurt for people to be reminded that the late Queen and the current King have done nothing to bring an accused rapist to justice, even after he proudly talked up being pals with the most notorious sex trafficker of the past century. Indeed, he’s been part of ‘displays of unity’ with the Waleses and their kids.

But is there enough story for a three-part series? What’s left to cover, and what can be dramatized without getting into potentially litigious territory? I wonder if people are delving into this in part because The Crown is ending before it gets to the 2020s (not that the series was ever nervy enough to deal with this issue.) Does this exist mostly to see Michael Sheen sweat? We have the Underworld movies for that.

As always, abolish the monarchy.