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Netflix Announces Cast For New Drama Based On Prince Andrew’s Newsnight Interview

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The cast has been announced for Scoop, Netflix’s new film based around Prince Andrew’s infamous interview on Newsnight back in 2019.

Over the summer, it was revealed that Newsnight producer Sam McAlister’s book – which went into detail about what went on behind the scenes to secure the interview – was being adapted for the big screen.

It’s now been revealed that Rufus Sewell, whose credits include Victoria, The Man In The High Castle and The Holiday will portray the Duke of York in the drama.

Rufus Sewell
Rufus Sewell

Taylor Hill via Getty Images

Meanwhile, Gillian Anderson will play former BBC journalist Emily Maitlis.

Gillian is best known for her roles in the TV series The X-Files, The Fall and Sex Education.

Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson

David M. Benett via Getty Images

In 2021, she also won an Emmy for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season of The Crown.

Billie Piper and Keeley Hawes will also make appearances as Sam McAlister herself and Prince Andrew’s former private secretary Amanda Thirsk, respectively.

Netflix has said Scoop will give viewers the “inside track” on how Prince Andrew first came to be grilled by presenter Emily Maitlis over his relationship with billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The streaming giant added that it will look at “navigating Palace vetoes, to breaking through to Prince Andrew’s inner circle, the high-stakes negotiations and intensity of rehearsal – to the jaw-dropping interview itself”.

The Crown producer Philip Martin, who directs Scoop, said: “Uptempo, immersive and cinematic, I want to put the audience inside the breathtaking sequence of events that led to the interview with Prince Andrew – to tell a story about a search for answers, in a world of speculation and varying recollections.

“It’s a film about power, privilege and differing perspectives and how – whether in glittering palaces or hi-tech newsrooms – we judge what’s true.”

Following the interview in November 2019, and the furore over his friendship with Epstein, the Duke stepped away from public life.

The interview was recently sent up in the Channel 4 special Prince Andrew: The Musical, which aired over Christmas.

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Emily Maitlis Has A Brutal Message For The BBC Over Its Brexit Coverage

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Emily Maitlis has criticised the BBC for “both-sideism” in its coverage of Brexit – suggesting its attempts to hear both sides of the argument led to “superficial balance”.

The former BBC journalist also argued the BBC and other media outlets are failing to tackle the impact of leaving the EU today, saying that “sidestepping” the issue “feels like a conspiracy against the British people”.

Maitlis, who left the broadcaster this year for rival media group Global, was addressing the annual MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival on Wednesday.

In one striking passage that won praise on social media, Maitlis said: “It might take our producers five minutes to find 60 economists who feared Brexit and five hours to find a sole voice who espoused it.

“But by the time we went on air we simply had one of each; we presented this unequal effort to our audience as balance. It wasn’t.”

She added: “I’d later learn that the ungainly name for this myopic style of journalism: ‘both-sideism’, which talks to the way it reaches a superficial balance while obscuring a deeper truth.”

Not everyone agreed.

The broadcaster suggested the problems continue, and outlets including the BBC adopt an “automatic crouch position whenever the Brexit issue looms large”.

She said: “Many broadcasters fear discussing the obvious economic cause of major change in this country in case they get labelled pessimistic, anti-populist, or worse still, as above: unpatriotic.

“And yet every day that we sidestep these issues with glaring omissions feels like a conspiracy against the British people.”

Maitlis joined the BBC in 2001 and presented Newsnight from 2006.

In February, she and Jon Sopel announced they were leaving the BBC to join Global, where they are hosting a new podcast, titled The News Agents, and a radio show together on LBC.

In her speech, Maitlis also said the BBC’s board includes an “active agent of the Conservative party” as she issued a warning about her former employer’s impartiality.

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