Gillian Anderson has been cast as news presenter Emily Maitlis in a new Netflix movie about the infamous Prince Andrew interview.
The 2019 Newsnight special will be dramatised in SCOOP, which will focus on the women who made the interview possible.
The Man in the High Castle's Rufus Sewell will play Prince Andrew, with Bodyguard's Keeley Hawes cast as the royal's former private secretary Amanda Thirsk and Doctor Who's Billie Piper as Sam McAlister, the producer who secured the booking.
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According to the synopsis, SCOOP will look at "the inside track of the women that broke through the Buckingham Palace establishment to secure the scoop of the decade that led to the catastrophic fall from grace of The Queen's 'favourite son'."
The synopsis continues: "From navigating Palace vetoes, to breaking through to Prince Andrew's inner circle, the high stakes negotiations and intensity of rehearsal – to the jaw-dropping interview itself.
"SCOOP is the insider account of the inner workings of the Palace and the BBC, twin bastions of the British Establishment, spotlighting the journalists whose tenacity and guts broke through the highest of ceilings – and into the inner sanctum and calculations of a man with everything to lose."
The interview, which saw Prince Andrew questioned in detail by Maitlis about reports of his friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and allegations made against him by Virginia Giuffre, became hugely talked about when it was broadcast.
The negative reception to and widespread criticism of what he said in the interview preceded the Duke of York's withdrawal from public life.
The movie is based on former Newsnight producer McAlister's memoir Scoops: Behind The Scenes of the BBC's Most Shocking Interviews, with The Crown's Philip Martin set to direct.
“It is beyond my wildest dreams, especially as a first-time writer, to end up working with this extraordinary cast, Netflix, and the amazing teams at The Lighthouse and Voltage," McAlister said.
"Watching Billie Piper, one of my favourite actresses, play 'me' will be a pinch myself moment and I'm truly thrilled to be involved in this film."
SCOOP is now in production, and will stream on Netflix.
