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Mar 17 | 2 min readScoop: Connor Swindells and Romola Garai join Gillian Anderson in the cast of Netflix film about infamous Prince Andrew interview
Gillian Anderson, who played Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Crown season 4, will be directed in Scoop by Philip Martin - who helmed the Coronation episode of the royal drama.
The Crown may be coming to an end after season 6 later this year, but it looks like Netflix is committed to dramatising the continued misadventures of the British Royal Family.
The streamer has announced a new feature film called Scoop, which will portray the infamous Newsnight interview between Emily Maitlis and Prince Andrew in 2019.
The ‘disastrous’ interview, in which the Queen's ‘favourite son’ discussed his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, led to him stepping back from royal duties and utimately losing his military titles and the use of the HRH style.
Maitlis will be played by former The Crown star Gillian Anderson, with Victoria's Rufus Sewell portraying Prince Andrew. The film will be directed by The Crown’s Philip Martin.
The rest of the all-star cast for the highly-anticipated Netflix Original movie includes BAFTA-nominated British actresses Keeley Hawes and Billie Piper.
New cast members announced in March 2023 include Sex Education's Connor Swindells, Becoming Elizabeth's Romola Garai and fellow The Crown alum, Lia Williams.
Here, we reveal everything we know so far about Scoop on Netflix.
What is the Scoop plot?
Scoop is the inside track of the women that broke through the Buckingham Palace establishment to secure the scoop of the decade - Prince Andrew's interview with Newsnight's Emily Maitlis in 2019.
The film will chronicle the whole story of the interview, from navigating Palace vetoes to breaking through to Prince Andrew’s inner circle, through the high-stakes negotiations and intensity of rehearsal to the jaw dropping interview itself.
Scoop is the inside account of the inner workings of the palace and the BBC, twin bastions of the British Establishment. It will spotlight the journalists whose tenacity and guts broke through the highest of ceilings right into the inner sanctum to show how they orchestrated a sensational interview with a man who had everything to lose.
BBC / Newsnight
When is the Scoop release date?
Netflix hasn’t confirmed the release date of Scoop.
However, with filming for the feature film starting in February 2023, we predict it will land on the streamer sometime in 2024.
We’ll update this article with more information when it’s confirmed by Netflix.
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Who’s in the Scoop cast?
- Emmy Award winner Gillian Anderson (Sex Education, The Crown) joins as Emily Maitlis, Newsnight’s former lead presenter who conducted the now infamous television exchange.
- BAFTA nominee Keeley Hawes (Bodyguard, It’s a Sin, Stonehouse) stars as Amanda Thirsk, former Private Secretary to Prince Andrew.
- BAFTA nominee Billie Piper (I Hate Suzie, Collateral, Secret Diary of a Call Girl) stars as Sam McAlister, who negotiated and secured the bombshell booking.
- Emmy Award Nominee Rufus Sewell (The Diplomat, Victoria) stars as Prince Andrew.
- BAFTA nominee Romola Garai (Becoming Elizabeth, The Hour, Miss Marx) joins as Esme Wren, then Newsnight Editor overseeing the historic interview.
- BAFTA nominee Lia Williams (The Capture) stars as Fran Unsworth, former BBC Director, News & Current Affairs. Williams portrayed Wallis Simpson in The Crown.
- BAFTA nominee Amanda Redman (Tommy Cooper: Not Like That Like This, New Tricks, The Good Karma Hospital) stars as Netta, mother of producer and booker, Sam McAlister who negotiated and secured the bombshell booking.
- Connor Swindells (Sex Education, SAS Rogue Heroes), below, joins as Jae Donnelly, the photographer who captured the infamous photograph of Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein in Central Park.
- Charity Wakefield (The Great, Wolf Hall) stars as HRH Princess Beatrice.
Who created Scoop?
Scoop, the behind-the-scenes account of the ‘news interview of the decade’, is based on former Newsnight Producer Sam McAlister’s thrilling memoir Scoops: Behind The Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews.
Sam McAlister is the BAFTA-nominated Producer who negotiated many of the Newsnight exclusives that have shaped and captivated public conversation over the past decade.
Scoop writers are Peter Moffat (Criminal Justice, Undercover) and Geoff Bussetil (Bulletproof, The English Game).
Scoop is directed by Emmy and BAFTA winner Philip Martin, who has directed some of the most iconic episodes of The Crown, including Smoke and Mirrors (Season 1 Episode 5), which depicted the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II (Claire Foy).
Scoop is produced by Hilary Salmon and Radford Neville (Luther, The Night Of, MotherFatherSon) for The Lighthouse Film & Television, with Sanjay Singhal (Bin Laden: The Road to 9/11, Trouble at Topshop) for Voltage TV.
Netflix
Is there a Scoop trailer?
No, there’s not currently a trailer for Scoop as it’s not been filmed. We’ll update this article when we have more information.
A release date for Scoop has yet to be confirmed by Netflix.
The Crown seasons 1-5 are streaming on Netflix now.
