Scoop, directed by Philip Martin from a screenplay by Peter Moffat and Geoff Bussetil, tells the story of Newsnight’s infamous interview with Prince Andrew in the wake of the scandal surrounding his association with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Based on a book by former BBC producer Sam McAlister, Scoop joins the lineup of post #metoo films (Bombshell, She Said) spotlighting the role of women in blowing the whistle on high-profile sexual predators once shielded by their wealth and position.
The film opens in NYC in 2010, as British paparazzo Jae Donnelly (Connor Swindells) captures the now notorious photograph of the Duke of York strolling through the park with Epstein, freshly released from prison following a child prostitution conviction. Flashing forward a full nine years, we find the Prince promoting his latest underwhelming scheme Pitch @ Palace – imagine The Apprentice with “Randy Andy” in place of Donald Trump. Facing a lackluster showing owing to the enduring rumours stirred by that fateful photograph, his loyal staff is at a loss as to how to rehabilitate his image.
Enter McAlister, the dedicated but brash Newsnight producer played here with gusto by Billie Piper. Told mainly through her perspective, the film paints the ambitious single mother in shades of Erin Brockovich, complete with leopard print booties and big platinum hair. More Daily Mail than BBC, she clashes with her more traditional colleagues, but her passion inspires the respect of editor Esme Wren (Romola Garai) and steely host Emily Maitlis (Gillian Anderson). The real McAlister holds a degree in law from the University of Edinburgh (she now teaches at the London School of Economics), but the film brushes these qualifications aside in favour of highlighting her fancy nail job and thigh-high python boots.
Sensing an opportunity, the feisty producer reaches out to the Prince’s personal secretary, Amanda Thirsk (Keeley Hawes). Fresh out of ideas, Thirsk goes against (wise, as it turns out) advice and invites her to Buckingham Palace for an informal chat. They get on well, but beyond securing McAlister a few choice Palace selfies featuring the aforementioned python boots, the meeting goes nowhere. Or so they think.
After a nasty office blow-up, McAlister, needing to prove her mettle or risk getting sacked, goes out on a limb and reaches out to Donnelly for more information on the Prince’s relationship with Epstein. Fortuitously for her, the pap tips her off that the FBI are descending on Epstein, kicking the Prince Andrew story right back into the news cycle. The Newsnight team recognizes the advantage of McAlister’s legwork with Thirsk, carefully making all the right moves to parlay that relationship into the now historic no-holds barred interview. An impeccable recreation of that interview forms the centerpiece of the film, the contents of which would be almost too difficult to believe if it hadn’t really happened.
Played to sickening perfection by Rufus Sewell, Prince Andrew is portrayed as a petulant man-child lacking any self-awareness and completely out of touch with the changing world around him. Thirsk, a die-hard royal loyal, also seems blind to reality, and to be honest – tragically naïve. At no point during or directly following the interview does the thoroughly deluded Thirsk – along with the bulk of the royal staff and the Prince himself – seem to believe that it has been anything but a great success.
Of course, it was a success, but not for the Palace. In the aftermath of the interview the Newsnight crew hilariously look like they’ve pulled off the heist of the century, and in a way they have. While the film manages to shed some light on the dark and out of touch machinations of the royal family and have some fun in the process, it falters a bit in tone. A self-righteous speech delivered by Wren near the end of the film feels especially disingenuous. Despite the film’s tendency to wave the girl power flag at every opportunity, it is heavily focused on the journalistic battle of McAlister and the Newsnight crew at the expense of the stories of the victims. Truth be told, they feel almost incidental to the story, and that truly is a shame.
Scoop is currently streaming on Netflix.
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