{"id":482017,"date":"2026-03-18T10:53:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T10:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/482017\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T10:53:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T10:53:14","slug":"huw-edwards-disturbing-texts-like-going-into-heart-of-darkness-say-filmmakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/482017\/","title":{"rendered":"Huw Edwards\u2019 \u2018disturbing\u2019 texts like \u2018going into heart of darkness\u2019, say filmmakers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n

Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n

The executive producer behind Channel 5\u2019s new Huw Edwards drama has said that reading the disgraced broadcaster\u2019s \u201cdisturbing\u201d texts were like \u201cgoing into the heart of darkness\u201d. <\/p>\n

The one-off drama, titled Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards<\/a>, dramatises the events leading up to Edwards pleading guilty to making indecent images of children in 2024. Martin Clunes stars as the ex News at 10 host, whose grooming of a 17-year-old is explored in the drama. <\/p>\n

In July 2023, it was reported by The Sun that a \u201ctop BBC star\u201d had paid a teenager for sexual images, with Edwards\u2019 wife naming him as the presenter in question shortly after. Edwards was never charged with a criminal offence in relation to the victim of the grooming.<\/p>\n

The 17-year-old \u2013 who remains anonymous \u2013 is given the fake name \u201cRyan Davies\u201d in the drama and is played by Osian Morgan. <\/p>\n

\"Martin<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Martin Clunes as Huw Edwards and Osian Morgan as Ryan in Channel 5\u2019s new drama (\u00a95 Broadcasting Limited \/ \u00a9Wonderhood Studios)<\/p>\n

Speaking about creating the drama, executive producer Samantha Anstiss revealed that writer Mark Burt based the script on \u201caffidavits and firsthand primary source materials\u201d provided by The Sun \u2013 including court reports which detailed Edwards\u2019 psychological reports and text messages.<\/p>\n

\u201cI must admit when I first saw them, I felt like I was going into the heart of darkness,\u201d she said on Tuesday (17 March) at the drama\u2019s London screening. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese text messages were in the most visceral, disturbing way, a very imbalanced relationship of power. In an unflinching way, we had to tell the story behind those messages. They were disturbing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anstiss went on to reference a text featured in one scene in the drama, where Edwards tells Davies: \u201cI love you but you kill me.\u201d <\/p>\n

She added: \u201cThey were the starting point really for us to go and meet the family and the victim, who is an incredible young man. I was struck by when I met him with his big smile and polite manner, how resilient he has been throughout this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burt added that Edwards\u2019 anonymous victim was involved in every stage of the production, saying: \u201cIt was his story and he had access to it at every single point.<\/p>\n

\"Martin<\/p>\n

open image in gallery<\/p>\n

Martin Clunes as Huw Edwards in ‘Power’ (left), and Huw Edwards in 2020 (right) (Channel 5\/ITV)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s read the scripts. We had all the texts, we had multiple texts. Huge sequences in the drama are verbatim. That was the communication and the rest we built around it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In June 2024, Edwards was charged by the Metropolitan Police with three counts of making indecent images of children \u2013 which includes receiving digital copies. Appearing in court, he admitted to possessing 41 photographs on WhatsApp, seven of which were classified as the most serious type.<\/p>\n

He was sentenced to six months in prison, which was suspended for two years, in September 2024. He was also added to the sex offenders\u2019 register. <\/p>\n

Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards is set to air at 9pm on Tuesday 24 March on Channel 5. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":482018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-482017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482017","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=482017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/482018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}