Scoop: Official trailer
Netflix unveiled Scoop today (April 5) after months of teasers allowing viewers to finally see the story behind the infamous Prince Andrew interview and they had a lot of thoughts. The film shows the tense negotiations between producers from BBC's Newsnight, predominately Sam McAlister, and the Prince's staff to make the chat happen.
The actual interview itself only comprises a tiny portion of the movie as much of it involves Sam (played by Billie Piper) ingratiating herself to Prince Andrew's then-private secretary Amanda Thirsk (Keeley Hawes) as she attempts to land the high-profile chat.
The Prince is played by acclaimed actor Rufus Sewell while Sex Education star Gillian Anderson portrays Emily Maitlis. While the 58-minute chat made waves around the world, it was the culmination of a year's work for all involved.
The interview itself is recreated as Emily and Prince Andrew go head to head. However, Scoop also portrays a dramatised version of what happened before and after the chat.
Everything from Prince Andrew commenting on Emily wearing trousers instead of her usual dresses to him commenting that it went well is included. Viewers were full of praise for the film, which comes almost four and a half years after the actual interview, and took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their thoughts.
@DanVoss commented: "Excellent work by everyone in #Scoop, that interview is still jaw-dropping."
Referring to Keeley Hawes' performance @lisapodcasts wrote: "The woman who plays Amanda Thirsk is so good. The right mix of adoration and delusion. #Scoop."
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However @newguyreview101 pondered why the streaming giant was telling the story opining: "It seems strange that #Scoop which is about an achievement by the BBC is on Netflix not the BBC. You would have thought the BBC would want to brag about something they did good for once."
The film is based on the book Scoops: Behind The Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews by former Newsnight producer Sam McAlister which was an autobiographical account of her work.
Although the Prince Andrew interview only comprises a tiny part of her extensive career, it is without doubt the most talked about moment that she worked on.
“It is beyond my wildest dreams, especially as a first-time writer, to end up working with this extraordinary cast, Netflix, and the amazing teams at The Lighthouse and Voltage,” she said in February last year when it was announced that Netflix had acquired it.
“Watching Billie Piper, one of my favorite actresses, play ‘me’ will be a pinch-myself moment and I’m truly thrilled to be involved in this film.”
Scoop is streaming now on Netflix.