Scoop, the public catalyst that led to Prince Andrew’s dramatic fall from grace is heading to Netflix.Gillian Anderson will play Emily Maitlis in Scoop, now in production and based on the story behind the disgraced royal’s appearance on the BBC’s ‘Newsnight’ in 2019.
The streamer has acquired Scoop, a feature based on the story behind the disgraced royal’s appearance on the BBC’s flagship news show Newsnight in 2019 — an hour of television that became one of the most significant, notorious and ridiculed interviews in recent years (and one that was then used against Andrew in the civil case filed by his sexual assault accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre).
Now in production, the film will star Rufus Sewell (The Diplomat, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel) as Andrew, and Gillian Anderson (Sex Education, The Crown) as Emily Maitlis, Newsnight’s former lead presenter who interviewed the prince.
Keeley Hawes (Bodyguard, It’s a Sin) will play Amanda Thirsk, Andrew’s former private secretary, and Billie Piper (I Hate Suzie, Collateral) will star as Sam McAlister, who negotiated and secured the bombshell booking.
Emmy and BAFTA winner Philip Martin (The Crown, Prime Suspect, Wallander, Mo) directs the project for Voltage TV, with Hilary Salmon and Radford Neville (Luther, The Night Of, MotherFatherSon) producing for The Lighthouse Film & Television alongside Sanjay Singhal (Bin Laden: The Road to 9/11, Trouble at Topshop),
“It is beyond my wildest dreams, especially as a first-time writer, to end up working with this extraordinary cast, Netflix, and the amazing teams at The Lighthouse and Voltage,” said McAlister. “Watching Billie Piper, one of my Favorite actresses, play ‘me’ will be a pinch myself moment and I’m truly thrilled to be involved in this film.”
The interview focused on Andrew’s relationship with late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and allegations of sexual assault of Giuffre by the royal when she was a minor. He infamously claimed that he had remained friends with Epstein, even after he had been released from prison, because he was “too honorable,” and said that he couldn’t have been clubbing with Giuffre on a particular night because he was at the restaurant chain Pizza Express with his children. He also asserted that claims he was “sweating profusely” on the night in question couldn’t be true because of a “peculiar medical condition” that prevented him from sweating.
