Scoop: "One Interview Can Change Everything"

The three women that made the truth possible.

The three women that brought you a very royal scandal! Know their names.

Scoop, based on former Newsnight editor Sam McAlister's book "Scoops: Behind The Scenes of the BBC's Most Shocking Interview", is due to drop on Netflix this Friday April 5th. Its logline describes it as an “insider account of the inner workings of the palace and the BBC, twin bastions of the British establishment”, which will show how a female-led team landed “the scoop of the decade that led to [a] catastrophic fall from grace”.

Three women made the interview possible:

Emily Matilis

The Cambridge-educated Canadian-born British journalist was raised in Sheffield, South Yorkshire by her British Jewish parents. Her paternal grandmother was a Jewish refugee who fled Nazi Germany. Despite being a journalist, documentary filmmaker and former newsreader for the BBC her international claim to fame came after being the interviewer for the November 2019 hour-long BBC interview with Prince Andrew, Duke of York in which she probed the prince's relationship with the American convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The interview, conducted by Maitlis, was widely regarded as a PR disaster and Andrew was widely mocked following its transmission. In it, Prince Andrew denied claims he had sex with Virginia Giuffre, who would have been 17 at the time. He said he could not have had sex with Giuffre in London on 10 March 2001 as alleged, because he had taken his daughter to a birthday party at a Pizza Express chain restaurant in Woking, Surrey. Giuffre also claimed they attended Tramp nightclub together and recalled Prince Andrew being “sweaty” as they danced. But he said it could not have been him as he was unable to sweat at the time as a result of trauma caused by serving in the Falklands.

Photo: Netflix

Gillian Anderson, who initially turned down the role due to finding the assignment “scary” plays the seasoned journalist. “It was just too scary to play Emily Maitlis, because she’s still living, because she’s so formidable, because people know her so well,” the Sex Education star told the BBC.

She eventually realized that it might be a good challenge and that she should take the role.

“I thought I probably do have to do it because I’m so scared of it,” she said.

Sam Mcalister

Photo: Perou/The Observer

McAlister was the woman who landed the interview. Sam McAlister, is a plucky outsider who was surrounded by somewhat toffee-nosed types who only finally began to take her seriously when she landed the TV exclusive to end them all. Samantha is an English former TV producer and author. The film is based on her insider look at the BBC, Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s most shocking interview” Sam McAlister is a trained criminal barrister. McAlister spent ten years working as a Producer on the BBC Newsnight programme, before taking voluntary redundancy in 2021.

Photo: Netflix

Billie Piper in a blond wig plays Samantha who according to some was not considered “very BBC” Piper has stated that she had more liberty when paying Sam because both Matilis and Prince Andrew were very public figures that people knew all too well.

Piper was fascinated by the idea of playing McAlister. “I felt like she was this unsung hero,”

Esme Wren

Esme Wren has enjoyed an incredible career, which has seen her head up some major departments across several big broadcasters.

Before landing the huge gig of being the BBC Newsnight editor, she was head of politics and business at Sky News.

It was a post she had for just over 12 years, after joining the broadcaster in 2005.

Esme left the job in 2018 to join Newsnight.

In 2021, Esme announced she was leaving Newsnight, she said: “Editing the show over the past three years has been the greatest privilege of my career, working alongside some of the best talent in the industry, too many to mention.

“They are one of the most committed, tenacious, creative teams in the industry and I will miss them greatly along with all my BBC colleagues who work relentlessly hard to deliver the best content for their audience.”

Photo: ES Composite

Romola Garay who plays Esme was also initially not interested in the role. “Often I’m a bit suspicious of true crime and adaptations of things that have happened very recently. I’m very wary of voyeurism,” said Garai in a recent interview with Esquire.

“But I felt when I read the script that Andrew and that story seem to have slightly gone away. So I was very interested in being part of something that put it back on the table. Essentially, at the centre of it, there’s this man who thinks he’s untouchable and it’s about journalists doing their job to dismantle this power structure, rather than propping it up.”

Cheers to more women in the media and journalism!