Keep track of the calendar because Netflix is releasing a new series which is based on power, privilege and sex, titled “Anatomy of a Scandal”. The series is set in London and is based on a British Politician named James Whitehorse and his spouse Sophie and depicts how a sexual assault accusation can put prominent people under media microscope. Written by Emmy award winner David E. Kelley, from Big Little Lies fame with Melissa James Gibson (known for House Of Cards) serving as the executive producer, Anatomy of a Scandal is based on a critically acclaimed novel written by author Sarah Vaughan. Sarah said her book, which featured on Sunday Times Bestseller List, is based on the time when she served as a courtroom reporter and a journalist doing various stories on British politics. S.J. Clarkson who directed several episodes of HBO’s Succession and Orange is the New Black, will be the director of the series.
British actors Rupert Friend is playing a powerful minister in the government and Sienna Miller will portray his wife. Miller said, “I was a huge fan of the book and of my character Sophie”. The legal drama also stars Michelle Dockery, from Downtown Abbey fame, playing the character of prosecutor Kate Woodcroft, who already believes James is guilty. Naomi Scott, known for Charlie’s Angels and Lemonade Mouth, is going to play Olivia Lytton i.e. the woman who accuses James of rape and Josette Simon, a British actress, will be the defense attorney of James Whitehorse.
Author Sarah Vaughan said Anatomy of a Scandal is based on her career as a reporter when she used to attend courts to write stories on murder and rape trials. After a while she changed her reporting to developments in British political circle, Vaughan wrote in a blog “I saw how sex scandals involving politicians broke and played out. I was in the lobby when the Home Secretary David Blunkett was exposed by the News of the World for having an affair with the publisher of the Spectator and I saw Boris Johnson colorfully deny and later admit to lying over, his affair with Petronella Wyatt”.Anatomy of a Scandal will be released on Netflix on April 15, 2022.