Scoop will star Doctor Who’s Billie Piper as the producer who battles to secure the pivotal Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew
Billie Piper is starring in a new Netflix drama about the events surrounding Prince Andrew’s infamous Newsnight interview. Scoop adapts the non-fiction book Scoop: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews by Sam McAlister. Doctor Who’s former Rose Tyler plays then BBC producer McAlister, as she secures and negotiates the terms of the interview. Meanwhile, Keeley Hawes (Time Heist) plays McAlister’s opposite number in the negotiations, royal private secretary Amanda Thirsk. The new film also co-stars Gillian Anderson as Emily Matlis, the journalist who skillfully skewered the prince with her questions. And Rufus Sewell takes on the role of Prince Andrew himself.
In one of the greatest miscalculations in television interview history, Prince Andrew’s team viewed the interview as an opportunity to rehabilitate his image following allegations about his friendship with the notorious Jeffrey Epstein, reportedly even believing it had gone terribly well after it was over. Until it was broadcast, at least, at his explanations of not being able to sweat and alibis of being at a Pizza Express became the stuff of global ridicule. Ultimately, the interview led to the stripping of many of his titles and privileges.
Now Scoop dramatises the dealings behind the scenes that enabled it all to happen. The film is currently in pre-production with no date yet set for its release.
Scoop
The inside track of the women that broke through the Buckingham Palace establishment to secure the scoop of the decade that led to the catastrophic fall from grace of The Queen’s ‘Favourite son.’ From 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.
