Scoop ★★★

REMEMBER that car crash of an interview that Prince Andrew gave BBC Television in 2019?

If you’ve ever wondered who thought that was a good idea and why, then you will find out in the British drama Scoop

The Prince was under pressure at the time due to revelations about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and claims that Andrew was also involved in similar criminal behaviour.

In particular, he had not explained the circumstances behind photos of him and Epstein with a young female.

As is usual in these circumstances, public affairs advice to the targets of media questioning is to lay low, not respond and hope it will all go away.

But it wasn’t going away. Andrew was very concerned and one of his most loyal staff agreed that in this instance it would be a good idea to use a trusted journalist to help him explain himself and also show what a great guy he really is.

The BBC, of course, had other ideas and skilled interviewer Emily Maitlis walked away with her scoop as Andrew self-imploded without initially even realising it.

The film is told in a pretty straight-forward and no-frills manner and doesn’t really tell those of us who know the story anything new.

But what it does have are strong and entertaining performances across the board, playing real and interesting people.

The always intriguing Gillian Anderson is Emily Maitlis, Keeley Hawes is Andrew’s aide Amanda Thirsk, Billie Piper is flamboyant researcher Sam McAlister, who lands the interview after befriending Amanda, and Rufus Sewell is the hapless, to say the very least, Prince Andrew.

Watched on Netflix.