Susan Granger’s review of “Scoop” (Netflix)
“Scoop,” Netflix’s drama about the downfall of Prince Andrew, drives home the old proverb – “If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas” – a warning to be mindful of who we surround ourselves with and what behavior we condone.
The plot of “Scoop” revolves around how – back in 2019 – the BBC secured an exclusive interview with the Duke of York about his friendship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The broadcast ultimately triggered Andrew’s disgrace, confiscating his HRH title, patronages and removing him from Royal life.
It all began with Sam McAlister (Billie Piper), a flamboyant junior producer at the BBC’s ‘Newsnight’ whose primary job is booking guests. Worried about the current wave of downsizing, she decides to track down rumors about Prince Andrew’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, who was still alive at that point.
Using the guise of promoting Pitch Palace, the Prince’s entrepreneurial ‘initiative,’ Sam contacts the Prince’s aide Amanda Thirsk (Keely Hawes). But when news breaks about Epstein’s suicide, including claims that the Prince had sex with a 17 year-old girl trafficked into Epstein’s sex ring, inevitably the focus changes.
After consulting “Mommy” (the Queen) who told him to use his best judgment, the Prince (Rufus Sewell) agrees to the opportunity to put the record straight and, hopefully, repair his tarnished public image.
But his interview with journalist Emily Maitlis (Gillian Anderson) causes even more acute embarrassment for the Palace since the Prince comes across like a bumbling oaf, admitting he doesn’t regret his friendship with Epstein because the “opportunities” he gained from it were “actually very useful.” Explaining why he continued be Epstein’s houseguest, he says, “It was a convenient place to stay.”
Reminiscent of Harvey Weinstein’s predations and the child abuse tolerated by Boston’s Roman Catholic Archdiocese, it’s based on Sam McAlister’s book “Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews.”
Adroitly directed by Philip Martin, there’s a significant moment in the conclusion when exhausted Sam takes the bus home, gazing at some giggling, carefree teenage girls, obviously thinking about Epstein’s victims and how the rich and powerful can so easily prey on the weak.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Scoop” is a sensationalistic 6, streaming on Netflix.
