Grant and Whishaw in the trailer | Photo: YouTube/BBC
Get ready to see Hugh Grant like you’ve never seen him before — playing the real-life disgraced politician, Jeremy Thorpe.
A Very English Scandal is a brand new BBC miniseries from Stephen Frears and Russell T. Davies.
It tells the true story of Liberal politician and Member of Parliament, Jeremy Thorpe, whose career was brought down by an affair with former model Norman Scott.
Ben Whishaw co-stars with Grant as Scott.
The trailer looks deliciously full of intrigue, mystery, danger, and, of course, scandal.
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‘I was rude, I was vile, I was queer, I was myself’
In May 1979, Thorpe was tried at the Old Bailey on charges of conspiracy and incitement to murder.
Though he was acquitted on all charges, his political career never rebounded. However, by the time of his death in 2014, later Liberal leaders honored him for his work.
The miniseries seems to follow Thorpe and Scott’s relationship and then subsequent scandal and court case. While Thorpe is trying to salvage his career, Scott focuses on not being able to speak his truth.
As he says at the end of the trailer: ‘I was rude, I was vile, I was queer, I was myself.’
The three-part miniseries arrives on the BBC later this year.
