{"id":358155,"date":"2026-01-08T02:28:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T02:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/358155\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T02:28:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T02:28:10","slug":"huw-edwards-scandal-getting-tv-drama-treatment-from-paramounts-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/358155\/","title":{"rendered":"Huw Edwards Scandal Getting TV Drama Treatment From Paramount’s 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe seismic scandal involving former Huw Edwards<\/a> \u2014\u00a0one of U.K. TV\u2019s highest profile figures and a BBC<\/a> news anchor who in 2024 pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children and was placed on the U.K.\u2019s sex offender register \u2014\u00a0is being turned into a TV drama. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPower: The Downfall of Huw Edwards\u201d (working title) has been ordered by 5, the U.K. network owned by Paramount<\/a> and will be produced by Wonderhood Studios. <\/p>\n

\n\tA year in the making, the two-part factual drama is set to examine how a \u201cvulnerable 17-year-old was groomed by one of the most powerful figures in television,\u201d according to the producers, with Martin Clunes (\u201cDoc Martin,\u201d \u201cOut There\u201d) portraying Edwards. The series will explore the \u201cnewsreader\u2019s double life as it spirals out of control, leading him to make the greatest announcement of his career \u2014 his total exit from public life following his conviction for serious child sexual offences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was in July 2023 when Edward\u2019s secrets started to unravel rapidly after a national newspaper reported that \u201ca top BBC star\u201d had paid a \u201cteenager for sexual pictures.\u201d As it transpired, that star was Edwards \u2014\u00a0one of the best known faces on U.K. TV and the man who made the historic declaration that Queen Elizabeth II had died. Online, he was he was soliciting explicit sexual photos from young men, and struck up a friendship with a man who sent him messages containing child abuse imagery. Following a police investigation, he pled guilty to making indecent images of children at Westminster Magistrates Court.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPower: The Downfall of Huw Edwards\u201d builds on factual research over the past 12 months, including first hand interviews and co-operation from those at the heart of the scandal and exclusive access to The Sun newspaper\u2019s award-winning investigation into Edwards.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis is an important and shocking story \u2013 of how a man in a position of power and trust betrayed that status,\u201d said Ben Frow, chief content officer at 5. \u201cBy gaining exclusive access to the key individuals involved and those who investigated the story, we explore the human cost behind the headlines. As a close collaboration between 5\u2019s factual and scripted teams this is a first for the channel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAdded David Abraham, founder and group CEO, at Wonderhood Studios: \u201cThis project marks Wonderhood\u2019s first step into drama and builds on our record in producing premium documentaries about challenging subjects that matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPower: The Downfall of Huw Edwards\u201d is a Wonderhood Studios production commissioned by Guy Davies (consultant editor for commissioning, 5) and Paul Testar (commissioning editor, scripted, 5) and co-produced with programme financiers Krempelwood. The series is directed by BAFTA and EMMY winning Michael Samuels (\u201cThe Windermere Children,\u201d \u201cAny Human Heart\u201d) and written by Mark Burt (\u201cThe Trial\u201d). The producer is Angie Daniell (\u201cA Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story,\u201d \u201cVigil\u201d), the casting director is Jenny Duffy, the factual producer is Louise Kentleton and director of production is Lianne Hickey. The executive producers are BAFTA-winner Samantha Anstiss and Tom Garton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The seismic scandal involving former Huw Edwards \u2014\u00a0one of U.K. TV\u2019s highest profile figures and a BBC news…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[243,21407,96,15034,3770,391,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-358155","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-bbc","9":"tag-channel-5","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-huw-edwards","12":"tag-paramount","13":"tag-tv","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}