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IN HIS ALTOGETHERS (SCOOP)

© Netflix 

There's a moment in Philip Martin's movie 'Scoop' when reaction starts tumbling in to Prince Andrew's 'Newsnight' interview on social media, when we see him naked from behind after getting out of the bathtub.

As he stands dripping in his bedroom, his body sagging, TV news channels and social media are pouring over every detail of what has been an omnishambles.

If you were to choose one image that encapsulates the whole film, that's it.

At this point in the Netflix movie, Rufus Sewell's Prince Andrew has become the King in the song sung by Danny Kaye in Charles Vidor's 1952 musical biopic 'Hans Christian Andersen'.

© Netflix

Prince Andrew is in his altogethers - flattered into believing his interview was a success and then suddenly realising how much he has exposed himself to ridicule as memes spew out on Twitter about his Pizza Express alibi and his inability to sweat.

In the list of disastrous TV interviews of all time, Prince Andrew's 2019 encounter with Emily Matlis for BBC2's Newsnight ranks up there at the very top.

The interview forced him to withdraw from all public duties and his association with the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein continues to haunt him to this day.

Philip Martin's Netflix movie 'Scoop' sets out to tell how British television's most infamous Royal interview came about, drawing from the book by the 'Newsnight' producer who secured it, Sam McAlister.

© Netflix

The film begins in 2010 like a Paul Greengrass thriller, with Connor Swindells' New York based paparazzi Jae Donnelly waking up in his apartment, receiving a tip-off and then frantically cycling through Manhattan.

Eventually he links up with a colleague, Kate Fleetwood's Anne Whitheridge in a SUV and soon they are staking out an Uptown property owned by Colin Wells' Epstein, having been informed Prince Andrew is also there.

Donnelly recognises Epstein's bodyguards and some Royal bodyguards but he is also struck by the age of the young girls who enter and leave the property.

When Epstein and Prince Andrew eventually leave, an attempt by Donnelly to photograph them is thwarted by a van blocking his view.

© Netflix

Getting out of the SUV, he follows the entourage on foot as they head to Central Park, sporting an earpiece like an agent pursuing Jason Bourne.

Improvising, he finds a spot where he might grab an image of the Prince and the wealthy sex offender walking and talking together.

He patiently waits and like an assassin eventually gets his shot, breathing several sighs of relief.

That infamous shot of Epstein and Prince Andrew in discussion will recur throughout the film and become the defining image of the link between both men.

© Netflix

Fast forward nine years and the BBC is in turmoil.

Lia Williams' Director of News and Current Affairs Fran Unsworth announces to staff redundancies are inevitable across all programmes because of a need to tighten belts.

Billie Piper's Newsnight editor Sam McAlister is among those feeling the pressure, frequently clashing with her colleagues Paul Poppelwell's unnamed editor and Jordan Kouame's fellow producer Freddy who imply she isn't pulling her weight in booking sufficiently heavyweight guests.

With her male colleagues fixated on nightly debates on Brexit, she's dismissed as being too Daily Mail in her tastes.

© Netflix

A suggestion by her that they interview the actress Lupita N'Yongo is relegated to the second half of the programme.

While Sam reaches out to Prince Andrew's office about his entrepreneurship venture Pitch@Palace, her colleagues complain to Romola Garai's senior editor Esme Wren that she's simply not up to the task of working on a serious current affairs programme like 'Newsnight'.

Esme, however, is determined to make the team work and tells Sam what she tells her male colleagues.

They cannot afford any backbiting and need to sort it out.

© Netflix

Sam is surprised to be invited to Buckingham Palace by Prince Andrew's chief of staff, Keeley Hawes' Amanda Thursk who is having her own issues with a new head of communications, Alex Waldmann's Jason Stein.

Conscious that the Jeffrey Epstein links are still plaguing the Prince, Thursk hopes by promoting his work with entrepreneurs it will drown out any noise.

Stein is gobsmacked that she's engaging in discussions with 'Newsnight' without him being involved.

Connecting with Jae Donnelly, Sam begins to focus on the links between the Prince, the paedophile and his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.

© Netflix

And as the storm rages following the arrest of Epstein by the FBI and his subsequent death in a prison cell, the Palace becomes increasingly desperate to distance itself from the financier.

Gillian Anderson's BBC 'Newsnight' presenter Emily Maitlis joins Sam and a colleague Richard Goulding's Stewart MacLean for a meeting with the Prince at the Palace to pitch the idea of a TV interview to clear the air.

But they are also clear that no question is off limits and when the green light is given, the stage is set for an epic TV encounter.

Working from a script by Peter Moffat and Geoff Bussetil, Martin delivers a polished and really entertaining account of Prince Andrew's downfall.

© Netflix

It has the slickness of Jay Roach's Oscar nominated 2019 movie about the Fox News sexual predator scandal 'Bombshell' with the same feminist dynamics as that film.

But it also has the same gladiatorial quality as Ron Howard's 2008 movie 'Frost/Nixon' when Martin and his cast recreate the 'Newsnight' showdown.

Like all the best journalism movies, its writers and director also show a real understanding of the professions they are depicting.

Broadcast journalists will be struck at how the film captures the immense pressure of producers unearthing stories in a climate of job losses and how it depicts the painstaking efforts required to negotiate interviews of this kind.

© Netflix

Martin and his writers also capture the bitchiness that can infect some newsrooms.

PR professionals will also recognise the crisis communications scenario of the film.

The intense coaching for a TV interview of this kind will ring several bells but they will also wince at the delusion of those in the Palace about the Prince's powers of persuasion.

Slickly shot by cinematographer Nanu Segal, 'Scoop' is also briskly edited by Kristina Hetherington who gives it the pace of an investigative journalism thriller.

© Netflix

Martin's cast also attack the story with enthusiasm and real guile.

Inevitably, as the best known of the characters, a lot of attention will fall on Anderson and Sewell's portrayals of Emily Maitlis and Prince Andrew in the film.

Both are terrific and at times, their resemblance to the figures they are portraying is uncanny.

While getting the look is all well and good, capturing their traits is what matters.

© Netflix

Anderson may not nail Maitlis' voice but she gets her gait and her intense interviewer's stare exactly right.

More importantly, she really captures her firm commitment to pursuing the story.

Sewell does a great job mimicking the Prince's mannerisms but he is particularly superb in portraying a cocky Royal who foolishly has no doubts about his ability as a communicator.

Piper provides the heart of the film, portraying McAlister as a single mum desperately fighting to keep her job by latching onto the Prince Andrew story.

© Netflix

Always an intelligent actor, it's another convincing performance from her with Piper successfully ensuring McAlister gets the recognition she deserves for pulling off one of the biggest broadcasting coups of recent years.

Garai, Swindells, Poppelwell, Kouame, Waldmann, Goulding, Williams, Aoife Hinds as a 'Newsnight' colleague Rebecca, Charity Wakefield as Princess Beatrice and Amanda Redman as Sam's mum Netta all contribute in different ways to the film.

But arguably it is Keeley Hawes who steals the show as Prince Andrew's chief of staff who seems oblivious to the absolute folly of putting him on a hard hitting current affairs show.

Hawes' performance is a masterclass in depicting someone who is in a bubble and it is wonderfully tragi-comic.

© Netflix

It's almost as if Amanda Thursk is too giddy, too awestruck in the Prince's presence to properly see his weaknesses.

Fans of 'The Crown' may view Martin's film like a bonus episode but it stands on its own feet as a withering examination of what happens when a public figure loses all perspective and is surrounded by yes men and women who convince themselves he or she is bulletproof.

It also reaffirms that when it comes to his association with Epstein, the Prince is still in his altogethers and it is unlikely there will be any stitch of metaphorical clothing that can repair that.

('Scoop' was made available for streaming on Netflix on April 5, 2024)

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