Scoop, the Netflix account - well, the Netflix version - of the BBC Newsnight interview with British royal stuff shirt and pal of the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and how it came about, is a great watch. But it does come - from me, at least - with a few caveats.
As I have called it a great watch I should explain why I caution. It is first and foremost a piece of commercial drama. It is not a documentary, and lets be honest, there is something at odds about every drama-doc.
The piece is preceded by what is now a standard warning: this film is based on real events - however certain elements have been fictionalised for dramatic purposes. And I don't doubt, if nothing else, Netflix legal department will have insisted on that being made clear.
The obvious question is: which elements have been fictionalised and how much has been fictionalised? I am not at all suggesting it's all a tissue of lies, but I am pointing out the we, the Great Unwashed, the bums which must be put on seats, are always more inclined to believe the legend than the facts.
A few years ago, the Tinseltown film U-571, another effort 'based on real events' described how stouthearted US submariners captured the World War II Nazi German enigma film.
It, too, contained certain elements fictionalised for dramatic purposes, though in this case the whole plot was fictionalised: thed Yanks had damn all to do with cracking the enigma code or anything like that. Ergo: caveat observator - always!
That preamble, though, is just a friendly warning: as far as Scoop is concerned, this might well be how it all happened and I have not reason to doubt it is not pretty close to the truth. But at the end of the day it is commercial drama produced, in the long run, to ring the tills and it is still fiction.
Having said that everyone involved gets top marks: Rufus Sewell, Billie Piper, Keeley Hawes, Gillian Anderson and the rest of the cast and production team. As far as I am concerned it doesn't put a foot wrong.
It is based on the book about scooping the interview with Andrew by the Newsnight producer who swung it, and the film pretty much is from her point of view. There's nothing wrong with that, but that is another factor which should be remembered.
But overall, top marks all round.
As I have called it a great watch I should explain why I caution. It is first and foremost a piece of commercial drama. It is not a documentary, and lets be honest, there is something at odds about every drama-doc.
The piece is preceded by what is now a standard warning: this film is based on real events - however certain elements have been fictionalised for dramatic purposes. And I don't doubt, if nothing else, Netflix legal department will have insisted on that being made clear.
The obvious question is: which elements have been fictionalised and how much has been fictionalised? I am not at all suggesting it's all a tissue of lies, but I am pointing out the we, the Great Unwashed, the bums which must be put on seats, are always more inclined to believe the legend than the facts.
A few years ago, the Tinseltown film U-571, another effort 'based on real events' described how stouthearted US submariners captured the World War II Nazi German enigma film.
It, too, contained certain elements fictionalised for dramatic purposes, though in this case the whole plot was fictionalised: thed Yanks had damn all to do with cracking the enigma code or anything like that. Ergo: caveat observator - always!
That preamble, though, is just a friendly warning: as far as Scoop is concerned, this might well be how it all happened and I have not reason to doubt it is not pretty close to the truth. But at the end of the day it is commercial drama produced, in the long run, to ring the tills and it is still fiction.
Having said that everyone involved gets top marks: Rufus Sewell, Billie Piper, Keeley Hawes, Gillian Anderson and the rest of the cast and production team. As far as I am concerned it doesn't put a foot wrong.
It is based on the book about scooping the interview with Andrew by the Newsnight producer who swung it, and the film pretty much is from her point of view. There's nothing wrong with that, but that is another factor which should be remembered.
But overall, top marks all round.