In the new teaser for Scoop, the film on Prince Andrew’s bombshell 2019 BBC Newsnight interview, Billie Piper says, “An hour of television can change everything.” As Gillian Anderson’s Emily Maitlis questioned Rufus Sewell’s royal character about his liaison with Jeffrey Epstein, Britain watched the prince. Prince Andrew announced his resignation as a public servant days after the broadcast, showing the situation’s fast impact.
How did the oldest son of the British king become controversial? Scoop, directed by Emmy and BAFTA winner Philip Martin (The Crown), stars Piper as Sam McAlister, a television show interview booker who got an unbelievable scoop. Scoop, based on McAlister’s tale and scripted by Peter Moffat and Geoff Bussetil, follows the women who uncovered one of the decade’s biggest news stories.
McCallister, Maitlis, and editor Esme Wren (Romola Garai) follow the story from start to finish in the drama, despite palace vetoes, tense meetings with Prince Andrew’s private secretary Amanda Thirsk (Keeley Hawes), and hours of preparation and rehearsal before the interview
The interview is significant, but McAlister assures Tudum that it only accounts for 5% of the story. “Our job is to show you where it all started.”
As two iconic British institutions, the BBC and Buckingham Palace, dispute over a once-in-a-lifetime story, this film will give you a glimpse behind the scenes of high-stakes broadcast journalism. As Martin said to Netflix, his goal is to immerse viewers in the incredible chain of events that culminated in the interview with Prince Andrew.
He hopes to do this by telling a tale about a quest for answers among a realm of conjecture and conflicting memories. “Whether in glistening palaces or high-tech newsrooms—we determine what’s true.” The video explores themes of power, privilege, and different viewpoints.
This was a chance for Piper to learn more about a tale that had always held a special interest for her. She explains to Tudum, “It was something I cared about tremendously.” “You wonder, ‘How did this make it onto the screens?'” after viewing the interview.
In what ways was this approved? “Who was involved in this?” Approaching a royal with such precision? I doubt I will ever see something comparable to that amount of exposure. It was the most unusual interview I have ever seen in my whole life. Telling the tale of the amazing ladies who brought this moment to life is, to be very honest, an acting gift.
As our tour guide throughout the BBC, McAlister stands out in her snakeskin stiletto heels and forthright determination. An institution with “quite rigid ways of doing things” is what McAlister describes as her “maverick” past. Being a working-class single mother, she feels the need to establish herself at a time when the journalism profession is facing a crisis. The future of Newsnight is uncertain as the BBC confronts fierce competition, and there is unprecedented pressure to boost ratings with captivating interview topics.
Piper hung on to those characteristics as she prepared for the performance, studying McAlister’s unique gait in addition to her vocal intonations and body language. “You wouldn’t expect someone with that infectious warmth and resoluteness all rolled into one,” Piper remarks.
The combination of McAlister’s serious and lighthearted sides was well captured by Billy, she thinks. Observing her go through a complete metamorphosis—from her voice to her fantastic wig to her makeup to her black clothing—is an identical experience. So ethereal and otherworldly.
Scoop is based on the true events surrounding the interview of Prince Andrew, and its main source is McAlister’s Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the Most Shocking Interviews, an inside look at her tenure as a talent booker for the esteemed BBC Newsnight program. The filmmakers also did extensive study on what was happening at the BBC and the palace at the same period.
Naturally, there are a few exaggerated distinctions. Contrary to what happens in the film, McAlister really spent thirteen months courting Thirsk, gradually changing her response from no to maybe to yes. “Can you imagine going on one second date after going on one hundred first dates?” asks McAlister. “I am essentially engaged in that.”
Being on site for both the actual interview and its film adaptation made McAlister’s recreation of the interview feel like a dream. She remarks, “It was like being there all over again,” praising the “brilliance” of Anderson and Sewell’s portrayals of Maitlis and Prince Andrew (respectively). “The attention to detail, recreating the exact same room, the lighting, the angles of the cameras, the table’s specifications, the cables, the camera types, the carpet—everything is so absurdly close.”
For Piper, “it was weirdly moving” is an additional adjective. Their performance was quite impressive, and it seemed like we had been building up to this point the whole time. “Ah, finally, I’ve found a job I enjoy doing.”
Piper confides in Tudum that she became choked up while seeing Anderson play the role of Maitlis, the esteemed newsreader. Gillian has an enormous burden playing a character who is deeply ingrained in the British identity. It is Emily Maitlis that we are familiar with. Her interviews have been known to be rather incisive. In our nation, she is quite visible and famous. However, Gillian did an outstanding job.
The film continues a lengthy canon of works depicting journalists demanding accountability from powerful institutions by following a team of reporters as they relentlessly pursue a significant story. Films such as Frost/Nixon, Good Night, and Good Luck, Spotlight, The Post, All the President’s Men, and spotlight primarily feature male characters who reveal the truth. Those are the three ladies and the whippet, as Maitlis, who plays Anderson, so deftly puts it in the trailer. When I first started, you wouldn’t have spotted that in a BBC studio.
The unique selling point of Scoop is its emphasis on the female journalists. It’s a once in a lifetime chance to witness strong women in their forties and fifties working hard at their careers and producing remarkable results, according to McAlister. “That’s the thing that makes this material relatable, not to mention important and noteworthy.”
March 5th marks the debut of Scoop on Netflix. Piper is hoping that people would realize how much effort and commitment goes into making the most prestigious news source.It is my sincere wish that readers would take away a sense of appreciation for investigative journalism. Currently, she adds, it seems like something is dying.
“These kinds of interviews can make a difference,” McAlister says, citing real-life pivotal occasions in journalism’s past. “This film is a tribute to the fact that, when done well, journalism accomplishes something really remarkable that no other medium can match.”
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