A powerful new drama delving into the downfall of one of Britain’s most well-known news broadcasters is set to hit our screens later this month.
Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards depicts in graphic detail what really happened when the BBC’s famed presenter was brought down, when graphic images of children were discovered on his phone.
Huw Edwards had been at the helm of the flagship BBC programme News at Ten from 2003 until 2023 and was a trusted and well-loved broadcaster across the UK.
However, in the summer of 2023, The Sun reported that ‘a top BBC star had paid a teenage boy for sexual images, and it emerged that it was Huw Edwards’ wife who named him as the person in question.
Now, this new drama promises to expose text messages and other information that has not been published before.
Actor Martin Clunes stars as Huw Edwards, but the 17-year-old has remained anonymous and, for the drama, is known as ‘Ryan Davies’ and played by Osian Morgan.
Executive producer Samantha Anstiss said the drama was developed using source material supplied by The Sun, including court reporting and other primary documents. She added that writer Mark Burt drew on these materials, including records of psychological assessments and message exchanges, when shaping the script.
A report on the Independent quotes producer Samantha Anstiss as saying: ‘I must admit when I first saw them (texts) I felt like I was going into the heart of darkness, these text messages were in the most visceral, disturbing way, a very imbalanced relationship of power. Unflinchingly, we had to tell the story behind those messages. They were disturbing.’
In June 2024, Edwards was charged by the police with three counts relating to indecent images of children, and at a subsequent court appearance, he admitted possessing 41 images found on WhatsApp, seven of which were categorised in the most serious classification.
He was given a six-month sentence, which was suspended for two years, and was also added to the sex offenders register in the UK.
Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards will air at 9 pm on Tuesday, 24th March, on Channel 5.
