“Even an hour of television can transform everything,” a character in Scoop declares. Well, Prince Andrew’s one-hour interview with Emily Maitlis of Newsnight in 2019 undoubtedly made a difference for the long-suffering Pizza Express employees in Woking. This new Netflix film, which at first glance acts as a kind of unofficial The Crown: Season 7, dramatizes that historic moment in television news—in which the Queen’s son addressed his friendship with convicted paedophile and human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, directly leading to his retirement from royal duties. People tend to enjoy dressing up as royals, so why not reenact the most embarrassing recent incident involving the British royal family?
The enormous, ostentatious impersonations of the two main characters will unavoidably come into focus, and Rufus Sewell is unquestionably excellent as the gormless, sweating Andrew who is unrecognizable due to prosthetics. Here, he is portrayed less as a “playboy Prince” and more as a pitiful young child caught in the clutches of delayed development, blurting out odd phrases like “Mummy combed my hair” or “Trousers!Here, Andrew—who has vehemently denied any wrongdoing—is shown as utterly unprepared for the gravity of the situation. It’s very devastating.
Perhaps less successfully, Gillian Anderson plays Emily Maitlis. There is a noticeable physical resemblance, and Anderson captures the journalist’s steely hawk-eye glare and the way she holds a pen like a sword. However, her voice sounds too husky—it sounds more like her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Crown. It seems more like a caricature than a true persona at times.
It seems to be missing a viewpoint.
Surprisingly, though, neither the prince nor the presenter are actually the center of attention. Rather, the credit for landing the job—which is performed here with grit and passion by Billie Piper—belongs to Sam McAlister, the Newsnight producer and guest booker (her book is adapted for the screenplay by Peter Moffat and Geoff Bussetil). With her one-woman mission, she is a force to be reckoned with, and it’s obvious that director Philip Martin is attempting to channel the heroic spirit of classic journalism movies like All The President’s Men. He’s got some degree of success.
The film’s most memorable sequences occur during the protracted planning leading up to the big day (“How difficult can it be talking to the Queen’s son about a convicted paedophile?” Maitlis asks in a deadpan manner. Martin deftly switches between the two distinct bunkers while the palace and the BBC wargame the interview, seeking to outwit each other. Thoughtful considerations of the gender dynamics at play are noted in Moffat and Bussetil’s script, which insightfully points out that it was three women who made it all happen: Maitlis, McAlister, and Newsnight editor Esme Wren (played here by Romola Garai). In one quiet moment, McAlister remarks to Maitlis that “men like that hate it when they’re not heard.”
The interview, complete with its outrageous and now-famous moments (“unbecoming,” “a convenient place to stay,” the lack of perspiration, the Pizza Express reference”), serves as the film’s grand centerpiece. It effectively conveys the surreal nature of the situation, leaving producers stunned while the royal family appears jubilant about it all. It is a technically accurate replica, but it lacks a clear point of view. You may watch the entire, well-known interview on BBC iPlayer. It was conducted not too long ago. Apart from a few trite concepts like “journalism is important,” what is Scoop contributing to the conversation?
It’s unclear. Outside of the interview, a great deal of the story feels passive, with folks following news updates on their phones and TV displays. Furthermore, despite the fact that the movie seems content to play the sillier scenes for laughs, it finds it difficult to convey the gravity of Epstein’s misdeeds or the charges Andrew has faced. In the end, it seems a little bit like the character who characterizes Newsnight as tough but never sensational—like The Crown does, with a somewhat exaggerated conviction in the monarchy’s significance.