TV Review: ‘A Very Royal Scandal’ is Delightfully Disturbing
A Very Royal Scandal. Written by Jeremy Brock, directed by Julian Jarrold. Produced by Blueprint Television, and broadcast on Amazon Prime. Episodes released September 19, 2024.
When I first heard about season 3 of A Very English Scandal, I was torn. On the one hand, it was Michael Sheen, who I fell in love with due to season 1 of Good Omens. On the other hand, he was playing Prince f’in’ Andrew, a person I have no desire to grace my screen intentionally.
I got access to the screeners from Amazon on August 13. I waffled back and forth about watching it until last night (September 18, 2024), and finally decided to bite the bullet and dive in.
I had seen A Very English Scandal in 2020 (mainly to see Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw play lovers in a Russell T Davies production: ‘it was indeed very English,’ was my one-sentence review). I however chose to pass A Very British Scandal, released in 2021, as the subject didn’t grab me. So, I had a brief idea what I was getting into, but still wasn’t 100% sure about it.
The three-episode drama miniseries is based on the real-life interview Prince Andrew (Sheen) gave to Emily Maitlis (Ruth Wilson) in 2019 over his involvement in the Epstein scandal.
The first episode is focused on the preparation for the interview. On the Newsnight side, we see Maitlis and her co-workers trying to find a way ‘in’ to talk to Andrew about Epstein and doing the work of researching and investigating. On the royal side, we see Prince Andrew going about his business of being a royal, for better or for worse. The second episode is the interview itself: Maitlis coming across some problems and Andrew getting frustrated with what he can and can’t do. The third episode is the fallout from said interview – for both of them. Maitlis becomes an overnight sensation and has to deal with both the positive and negative of that. Meanwhile, Andrew resigns from public roles and deals with a lawsuit.
Not surprisingly, both Sheen and Wilson are dynamite in their respective roles. It is absolutely creepy watching Sheen play such a horrid man so well. There’s a bit in the first episode where he flirts with someone, and it comes across so skeevy! Wilson also inhabits her role well: I don’t know much about Maitlis outside of this interview, but Wilson does a great job of showing both the good and bad of the woman. The casting is on-point: many of the supporting actors are damn close (Claire Rushbrook as Fergie the nearest, in my opinion) – but it’s just off enough to remind you you’re watching a fictionalized version of events.
Julian Jarrold’s directing is gloriously subtle: there were many times I felt I was watching actual events and not something staged and blocked.
Once you get past the ‘ick’ factor of what the point of the interview was, it’s a great drama. (There were plenty of times I just shuddered in revulsion in regards to Sheen’s acting.) The show has tension and definitely high stakes. It’s compelling: while I considered stopping a couple of times (mostly during the first episode), I was very glad I didn’t. I can’t say I ‘enjoyed’ the show, because that just feels weird. But I appreciated the production: I was glad I stayed through the three episodes.
If you, like me, were debating whether to watch it or not, I recommend it if you can get past the distasteful subject. It’s good drama in both senses of the word.
A Very Royal Scandal is streaming on Amazon Prime. More information about the show can be found here.