Anatomy of a Scandal

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Anatomy of a Scandal
Anatomy of a Scandal title card.svg
Genre
Based onAnatomy of a Scandal
by Sarah Vaughan
Developed by
Directed byS. J. Clarkson
Starring
Music byJohan Söderqvist
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes6
Production
Executive producers
ProducerMark Kinsella
CinematographyBalazs Bolygo
Editors
  • Liana Del Giudice
  • Mary Finlay
Running time43–48 minutes
Production companies
DistributorNetflix Streaming Services
Release
Original networkNetflix
Original releaseApril 15, 2022 (2022-04-15)

Anatomy of a Scandal is an American anthology thriller drama streaming television miniseries developed by David E. Kelley and Melissa James Gibson, based on the novel of the same name by Sarah Vaughan. The series consists of six episodes, and premiered on Netflix on April 15, 2022.[5]

Premise

Sophie Whitehouse, the wife of British Tory MP James Whitehouse, learns that her husband has been having an affair with an aide. The news goes public, blowing up their lives and forcing her to deal with the consequences of her husband's disastrous decisions. To make matters worse, James is accused of rape and has to stand trial.

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

  • Jonathan Firth as Richard, Kate's married former pupil master, with whom she is having an affair
  • Sebastian Selwood as Finn Whitehouse, Sophie and James's son
  • Amelie Bea-Smith as Emily Whitehouse, Sophie and James's daughter
  • Geoffrey Streatfeild as Tom Southern, MP, the Prime Minister
    • Jake Simmance portrays a young Tom Southern
  • Violet Verigo as Krystyna, the Whitehouses' housekeeper
  • Liz White as Ali, a schoolteacher and Kate's best friend
  • Tom Turner as John Vestey
  • Jonathan Coy as Aled Luckhurst, the judge of James's rape case
  • Kudzai Sitima as Maggie, Kate's aide

Guest

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
1"Episode 1"S. J. ClarksonMelissa James Gibson & David E. KelleyApril 15, 2022 (2022-04-15)
Beautiful and wealthy Sophie Woodward is called away from a party by her husband, Tory MP James Whitehouse, who confesses he had a five-month affair with one of his aides, Olivia Lytton, and the news is about to break publicly. Although upset, Sophie decides without question to forgive her husband as they have been together since university and have two children together. Despite some uncomfortable press, James manages to de-escalate the news. Just as the story seems likely to blow over, two police officers approach James, informing him that Olivia has accused him of rape.
2"Episode 2"S. J. ClarksonMelissa James GibsonApril 15, 2022 (2022-04-15)
James is charged with rape and a trial date is set. After being shut out from her social circle, Sophie reflects on her decisions to support James's career at the expense of her own. Sophie reluctantly attends James's trial where Olivia is called on to give testimony and reveals that rather than the meaningless physical affair James claimed was happening, James respected Olivia's intelligence and she was in love with him, prompting Sophie to leave the court in distress.
3"Episode 3"S. J. ClarksonMelissa James GibsonApril 15, 2022 (2022-04-15)
Olivia takes to the stand and details her version of events surrounding the rape. James feels like his defense lawyer adequately questions Olivia's testimony but learns at the last minute that a second woman has come forward claiming that James assaulted a fellow student while at Oxford, a woman named Holly Berry, whom Sophie knew well. The Prime Minister, Tom Southern, who has thus far stood beside James, faces a coup within his own party and threatens to cut James loose. A flashback reveals why James and Tom have such mutual loyalty.
4"Episode 4"S. J. ClarksonMelissa James Gibson & David E. KelleyApril 15, 2022 (2022-04-15)
Sophie takes the children to visit James's parents in the countryside. Returning home, she is deeply disturbed by the fact that James still has no memory of Holly. A flashback reveals that James raped Holly during his last week of university, with some of the details of the event bearing a disturbing resemblance to Olivia's rape. Olivia's friend Kitty Ledger takes the stand. Prosecution council Kate Woodcroft is off her game when questioning and later has a panic attack. She calls her mother and reveals that she is Holly Berry, now going by a different name.
5"Episode 5"S. J. ClarksonMelissa James Gibson & David E. KelleyApril 15, 2022 (2022-04-15)

James is called to give evidence and on the stand admits that he and Olivia were in love during their affair.

During the trial both Sophie and James seem to independently recognize Kate as Holly Berry; Sophie through Kate's distinct note taking and James through Kate's line of questioning. Aware of who Kate actually is James uses his testimony to deny he raped her in a way only Kate would recognize but loses control of his temper during the line of questioning.

Sophie is shaken by the trial and later sneaks out to visit Kate in private.
6"Episode 6"S. J. ClarksonMelissa James Gibson & David E. KelleyApril 15, 2022 (2022-04-15)

Though Kate denies knowing Sophie, Sophie leaves their meeting convinced she is Holly Berry. When Sophie returns home James reveals that the night he and Tom were accidentally involved in a man's murder he had sex with a woman who he believes could have been Holly Berry and further admits that Tom supplied drugs to the dead man while James hid the evidence.

The trial concludes and James is acquitted. In private James admits to Sophie that he did call Olivia a prick-tease, a piece of evidence that he denied in court.

Sophie decides to leave James. She has a final meeting with Kate where Kate confirms James raped her and Sophie reveals that she leaked James and Tom's involvement in the death of their friend to the press.

Tom and James are arrested. Sophie and her children begin new lives in the country and Kate continues to practice the law as a prosecutor.

Production

Netflix had announced in May 2020 they had greenlit the series, which David E. Kelley and Melissa James Gibson adapted from the Sarah Vaughan novel of the same name. S. J. Clarkson was set to direct all episodes of the series.[6] In September, Sienna Miller, Michelle Dockery and Rupert Friend were cast to star in the series.[7] Naomi Scott would be added in December,[8] with Ben Radcliffe booking a recurring role in January 2021.[9]

Filming for the series began in October 2020 at Shepperton Studios.[10] Filming also took place at St. George's Hanover Square Primary School in Mayfair, London. Production took place in Oxford in February 2021.[11]

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 62% approval rating with an average rating of 5.9/10, based on 37 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Anatomy of a Scandal has the bones of a good David E. Kelley potboiler but lacks the connective tissue to really work, although the starry cast provides an intrigue all its own."[12] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 51 out of 100 based on 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[13]

References

  1. ^ Heritage, Stuart (April 20, 2022). "That Anatomy of a Scandal scene: is this the silliest TV moment ever?". The Guardian. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  2. ^ VanArendonk, Kathryn (April 18, 2022). "Anatomy of a Scandal's Final Line Achieves Greatness (in the Category of 'Most Absurd Ending')". Vulture. Archived from the original on April 20, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  3. ^ Parkinson, Hannah Jane (April 17, 2022). "The week in TV: Anatomy of a Scandal; Derry Girls; Killing Eve; Gentleman Jack". The Guardian. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  4. ^ Dacre, Karen (April 15, 2022). "How to create an Anatomy of a Scandal 'power woman' wardrobe". The Sunday Times. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  5. ^ Kinane, Ruth (January 31, 2022). "See first photos of Sienna Miller starring in David E. Kelly's Anatomy of a Scandal adaptation for Netflix". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  6. ^ Jones, Marcus (May 21, 2020). "David E. Kelley and Netflix are working on a 'Anatomy of a Scandal' TV adaptation". Entertainment Weekly.
  7. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (September 23, 2020). "'Anatomy Of A Scandal': Sienna Miller, Michelle Dockery & Rupert Friend To Star In Netflix Series From 'Big Little Lies' Creator & Former 'House Of Cards' Showrunner". Deadline Hollywood.
  8. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (December 15, 2020). "Naomi Scott to Star in Netflix's 'Anatomy of a Scandal' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
  9. ^ Petski, Denise (January 5, 2021). "'Anatomy Of A Scandal': Ben Radcliffe Joins David E. Kelley's Netflix Series". Deadline Hollywood.
  10. ^ "'Anatomy of a Scandal' Netflix Anthology Series: Coming to Netflix in April 2022". What's on Netflix. February 22, 2022.
  11. ^ "First look at Netflix film sets in Oxford city centre". Oxford Mail. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  12. ^ "Anatomy of a Scandal: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  13. ^ "Anatomy of a Scandal: Season 1". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved April 23, 2022.

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Presented content of the Wikipedia article was extracted in 2022-04-27 based on https://en.wikipedia.org/?curid=67871117