EXCLUSIVE: Netflix‘s dramatization of the BBC’s bombshell Prince Andrew interview is proving to be one of the streamer’s most discussed debuts in some time, but one person has largely kept her silence.
Emily Maitlis was sat opposite the Duke of York for that fateful exchange in 2019, winning plaudits and prizes for her piercing, methodical questioning of the British royal.
Maitlis has not said much about Scoop, partly because she has not been involved in the Netflix film, but also because her time has been spent authoring her own version of the story for Amazon.
Now, in an interview with Deadline, Maitlis has made some of her first comments about Netflix’s adaptation of a book by her former Newsnight running mate Sam McAlister.
“I’ve left them very much to do their own thing because I think the last thing they want is me peeking around the edges offering my [views],” Maitlis said. “It says it’s based on a fictional account, so I think it goes into different places and it does different things [to the Amazon series].”
The phrase “fictional account” has the potential to raise eyebrows amid reports that Maitlis and McAlister have differing recollections about how the Prince Andrew interview was secured.
Maitlis later clarified through a spokesperson that she was describing Scoop as a “dramatization.” The precise disclaimer used by Netflix is: “This film is based on real events – however certain elements have been fictionalized for dramatic purposes.”
Scoop puts McAlister at the heart of the story, with Billie Piper bringing to life her reputation as a highly-regarded industry guest booker with a talent for persuasion.
Amazon’s A Very Royal Scandal will offer an alternative look behind the scenes, with the role of McAlister likely to be lower in profile. Amazon has not announced who is playing the character.
Emily Maitlis interviewed Prince Andrew for the BBC’s ‘Newsnight’
BBC
Maitlis had not watched Scoop ahead of its premiere on Friday, but said she would “get around to it at some stage.” The broadcaster added that she was “very excited” about the film and that McAlister had taken the story to “brand new heights.”
Gillian Anderson plays Maitlis in the Netflix movie and has spoken admiringly about the presenter, who now hosts chart-topping UK podcast The News Agents. Prince Andrew is depicted by Rufus Sewell. Maitlis is played by Ruth Wilson in A Very Royal Scandal, while Michael Sheen plays the Duke of York.
“I’ve seen Ruth and what she has done is extraordinary to the point where I keep seeing flashes and go: ‘Oh, you’re looking great. Oh shit, it’s not me,’” Maitlis joked. “That has been a very strange but brilliant process.”
The former BBC presenter added that too much had been made of the idea that the Netflix and Amazon projects are dueling dramas. “I think that probably is overplayed, overstated. This [the Amazon series] will be a very different beast. I’m sure there’s room for both,” she added. “It’s unreal that there is all this interest and all this excitement.”
Scoop was produced by The Lighthouse and Voltage TV. Blueprint Television is producing A Very Royal Scandal for Amazon MGM Studios.