Scoop review: A very British scandal illustrates journalism’s power, responsibility

The most apt word to describe British director/screenwriter Philip Martin’s Scoop is ‘reticent’. Martin brings a set of the most compelling journalists, news anchors, producers, fact-checkers, etc., from the BBC under one roof and pits them against a mighty force named Prince Andrew, the Duke of York and the second son of Queen Elizabeth II.

The year is 2019 and it’s been five years since Prince Andrew was accused of being involved in the sex trafficking of an underage girl, nine years since his infamous ‘walk in the park’ tabloid photograph with Jeffrey Epstein blew everyone’s minds. Epstein would be convicted and arrested by the FBI in July 2019 and he would be found dead by “suicide” only a couple of weeks later, but Prince Andrew is still potentially at large and has serious questions to answer.

That said, one must remember that the man has all the power and muscle of the world to brush this under the carpet, and the women of BBC, including newsreader Emily Maitlis (Gillian Anderson), junior producer and guest booker Sam McAlister (Billie Piper), and Newsnight editor Esme Wren, would be of no match to him. Of course, this is a heavily lopsided contest, given the respective potency of the contenders, but Scoop, the latest Netflix original, is meant to show us the true strength of integrity and courage.

It’s a film designed to use a real-life scenario, the ‘scoop of the decade’ to underline the great power and responsibility a journalist carries. It’s a film about how the said team from BBC’s Newsnight comes together and cajoles Prince Andrew into doing a tell-all, exclusive interview about Epstein, his involvement and so much more that the nation wants to know. It’s a film about how sincerity triumphs over inconspicuous evil that sheathes its iron fist with a velvet glove.

A Broad-Strokes Approach

And yet, the film comes off as a little underwhelming because, despite the strength of the material and the intensity of the event, it remains too coy and hesitant about the pitch it wants to adopt. Scoop is well-intended, no doubt, and even has the right eloquence to make its point. But its tendency to remain reserved throughout lends it the depth of a Facebook post and not really that of a stirring, emotional tale we want it to be.

But to their credit, Philip Martin and writers Peter Moffat and Geoff Bussetil hit the ground running. The film is based on McAlister’s non-fiction book Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC's Most Shocking Interviews (2022) and suitably, the author becomes the voice of the story. It is through her eyes, her emotional gaze that the narrative unfolds and for the most part, Scoop wants us to remain invested in how she wades through BBC as the classic, misunderstood misfit.

Sam McAlister speaks her mind and, even if it is about the channel’s priced newsreader Emily Maitlis, she may not have many qualms to mince her words. Luckily for her, Maitlis is drawn to this “punchy” and outlier nature of hers and when McAlister almost single-handedly brings Prince Andrew on board for one of the most explosive and significant interviews in Britain’s modern history, Maitlis is all the more charmed with her personality.

Now, one wished quite early on that the film dug a little deeper into this interesting dynamic that involves two equally dogged and passionate women. A personality clash, as it were, McAlister and Maitlis deserve a separate platform for their unique synergy and since the film announces right off the bat that it has taken certain creative liberties, the chance to further romanticize this equation seems to have been relinquished by the writers. Instead, Scoop stays quite detached from the belly of the drama and traces the many micro-events in broad strokes, leaving behind only small samplers of the many personalities it endorses.

McAlister fights for her due for what she brings to the table, Maitlis is ingenious with what she does and is perhaps misread by the world as well, and Amanda Thirsk (Keeley Hawes), the Personal Secretary of Prince Andrew, is arguably the most conflicted person in the room because she is representing an alleged paedophile. There is so much riding on this convoluted story but Peter Moffat and Geoff Bussetil’s script doesn’t attempt to fully take us closer to any of the emotional threads.

The Clear Intent Saves The Day

As a result, we pin too much expectation on the interview itself, which is recreated with a good degree of authenticity. The very amazing Gillian Anderson plays her part with a heavy touch of exhibition but she never loses control of her character, while Rufus Sewell portrays his Prince Andrew as a congenially self-deluded man.

At one point, Maitlis dubs the interview to be akin to a duel in a Western and one of the film’s best scenes emerges at this very point, when we see both parties prep for the event in tandem, in separate locations. Director Philip Martin then opts to not make a lot of fuss about the all-important interview scene and revives it with the same candour as the actual conversation between Maitlis and Prince Andrew, though often intercutting between other players to capture their changing moods. Anne Nikitin and Hannah Peel’s pensive score adds to the mood.

A lot rests on this scene because even though we are aware of how the interview actually played out back in 2019, our being privy to the behind-the-scenes choreography and Prince Andrew's privilege elevates the drama to a whole new level. And even though the rest of the film doesn’t properly get this done, a sense of catharsis is dispelled through this scene alone.

It is also here that Martin and his team highlight the frightful amount of power that Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and their elite clientele, involving some of the world’s most powerful Princes, Presidents and Business Owners, wield. We gather with great delight just how effectively Emily Maitlis nudges Prince Andrew towards self-parody as he goes about dishing out statements like “It was a convenient place to stay” when asked why he was staying at a convicted sex offender’s house, and “I don’t sweat” when refuting a specific allegation against himself.

Prince Andrew would go on to settle outside of court with his accuser Virginia Giuffre in 2022 and even though he was made to let go of his Royalty powers after the interview, he still continued living a life of gross luxury. But what the BBC interview does, as Scoop presents, is it validates the power handed to upright journalists. Scoop isn’t the most superb rendition of a real-life event such as this but it certainly is a rewarding watch for its intent. On top of that, it’s got a solid central cast to guide us through a chilling episode in our contemporary history.