My Review of Scoop (2024)

 

Written by Peter Moffat And Geoff Bussetil

Directed by Philip Martin

Prince Andrew: "If I do an interview, the question is, why you?"

Sam: "With respect, you know how people see you."

Prince Andrew: "Spell it out."

Sam: "Randy Andy."

After six seasons of The Crown, I guess Netflix's appetite for Royal Family wasn't sated enough. So, came this movie where the public downfall (but not really) for Prince Andrew (Rufus Sewell) came to the forefront.

If the poster was anything to go by, you'd almost think that BBC newsreader Emily Maitlis (Gillian Anderson) was going to be the central figure of this movie or even the disgraced Andrew himself. Nope, instead the film quickly established that TV producer Sam McAllister (Billie Piper) was really the main character of this piece.

Sam's a single mother and a determined career woman. When she's not getting the interviews and stories that others aren't, she's confiding in her mother, Netta (Amanda Redman) about her worries while also noticing that her son Lucas (Zach Colton) has a crush on a girl a class above him. However the main emphasis for Sam here of course was her job.

A job that she's great at but at the same time, her determination rubbed certain co-workers like Freddy (Jordan Kouame) the wrong way. Saying that with a contact like Jae (Connor Swindells) in New York, Sam soon realised that the story between Prince Andrew and his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein (Colin Wells) was going to hit the fan.

Sam's determining got her a meeting with Andrew's private secretary Amanda Thirsk (Keeley Hawes) and once, Epstein's home had been raided, Sam had the upper hand in getting Andrew into agreeing with the BBC Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis. Needless to say, an interview that wouldn't benefit the grubby Prince either.

There's a masterclass of acting between Gillian Anderson and Rufus Sewell during the big interview itself. An interview that undid whatever good will Andrew had with the public while also redefining both McAllister and Maitlis's careers. Both women really exposed a monster in quite a public fashion.

- The movie was based on McAllister's book, Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC's Most Shocking Interviews. 

- Amazon will have their own counter to this movie with upcoming miniseries A Very Royal Scandal. Emily Maitlis will be an executive producer for that.

- Billie Piper's wig for playing Sam McAllister cost over £11,000, which was ludicrous.

- Chronology: Started in 2010, New York with the majority of the film in 2019 and the interview taking place on November 16th.

Scoop delivered some strong performances from all four leads but if I'm honest, it's Billie Piper who well and truly delivered the most. It's her central performance that does anchor the whole thing long before the big moment appeared.

Rating: 8 out of 10