Last month Netflix aired its latest production to do with the British royal family; no, not another series of The Crown, but a drama “based on real events, fictionalised for dramatic purposes” – plus ca change, then – of the bombshell Newsnight interview Emily Maitlis famously conducted with Prince Andrew on 16 November 2019, concerning his long friendship with the convicted sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The drama, directed by Philip Martin (also of The Crown, interestingly), is based on the first three chapters of a book by Sam McAlister, Newsnight’s then-booker, played here by Billie Piper, all corkscrew bleached blonde hair, pale lips, black nails and an enviable Chanel logo on her jacket. McAlister is portrayed as gritty working class, more Daily Mail than Newsnight, as someone snobbishly says, but she’s dogged and hungry and it’s her tenacity that secures the prized interview, seemingly against all odds.
