Scoop dares to go where The Crown wouldn’t in first trailer

The Crown covered a lot, but it didn’t get to the biggest scandal in modern royal history: Prince Andrew’s association with “billionaire pedophile” Jeffrey Epstein and the subsequent fallout. But Netflix’s commitment to making fictionalized Windsor drama is unparalleled, and so they’ve got some Crown alums together to create Scoop (premiering April 5), which documents how Andrew’s infamous 2019 interview with BBC’s Newsnight came to be.

“Inspired by real events, Scoop is the inside account of the tenacious journalism that landed an earth shattering interview—Prince Andrew’s (played by Rufus Sewell) infamous BBC Newsnight appearance,” reads a synopsis for the film. “From the tension of producer Sam McAlister’s (played by Billie Piper) high stakes negotiations with Buckingham Palace, all the way to Emily Maitlis’ (played by Gillian Anderson) jaw dropping, forensic showdown with the Prince, Scoop takes us inside the story, with the women who would stop at nothing to get it.”

The trailer for the new movie, which is based on McAlister’s book Scoops: Behind The Scenes Of The BBC’s Most Shocking Interview, features a lot of significant glances and purposeful walking. Anderson, who won an Emmy for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher on The Crown, isn’t in full chameleon mode this time. That honor goes to Sewell, a typically handsome guy who has totally transformed into the boxy, shifty Andrew.

It’s safe to say the ill-advised Newsnight interview altered the course of Prince Andrew’s life. Obviously meant to clear his name after being accused of having sex with an underage girl trafficked by Epstein, the sit-down instead further sullied his public reputation. Over the course of the disastrous conversation, Andrew claimed he wasn’t close to Epstein, but nevertheless defended the connections he made through their relationship. He attempted to discredit the allegations made by Virginia Giuffre, who recalled the prince “profusely sweating” during their encounter, by asserting that it was “almost impossible” for him to sweat at the time due to a medical condition he developed in the Falklands War. And he questioned whether a photo of himself and Giuffre was real because he said he’d typically dress more formally when he would “go out in London.”

Since the airing of the interview, Giuffre sued Andrew for sexual assault and eventually settled the case out of court. However, he was stripped of many of his military titles, banned from the use of “His Royal Highness”—a title conspicuously used in the Scoop trailer—and effectively retired from public life as a royal. Far from clearing his name, the Newsnight interview marked the beginning of the end for Andrew.

In addition to Anderson, Scoop also features the talents of another Crown alum, director Philip Martin. The script is written by Peter Moffatt (Your Honor) and Geoff Bussetil (The English Game). Keeley Hawes and Romola Garai are also set to star alongside Anderson, Sewell, and Piper.