''The Trial of Christine Keeler'' is a British television series based on the chain of events surrounding the
Profumo affair
The Profumo affair was a major scandal in twentieth-century British politics. John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government, had an extramarital affair with 19-year-old model Christine Keeler be ...
in the 1960s.
The six-part series premiered on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
in the United Kingdom on 29 December 2019.
The series was adapted by
screenwriter Amanda Coe
Amanda Coe (born 1965) is an English screenwriter and novelist.
Early life
Coe was born in Yorkshire in 1965.Anita SethiAmanda Coe: ‘The older I get, the more confident I am about exploring class in my writing’ The Guardian, 23 November 20 ...
and stars
Sophie Cookson
Sophie Cookson (born 1989 or 1990) is an English actress best known for portraying secret agent Roxanne "Roxy" Morton / Lancelot in the 2014 spy film '' Kingsman: The Secret Service'' and its 2017 sequel '' The Golden Circle'', and for playing ...
,
James Norton,
Ellie Bamber
Eleanor Elizabeth Bamber (born 2 February 1997) is an English actress. She won third prize at the Ian Charleson Awards for her 2017 performance in ''The Lady from the Sea'' at the Donmar Warehouse. On television, she is known for her roles in th ...
,
Ben Miles, Visar Vishka,
Emilia Fox
Emilia Rose Elizabeth Fox (born 31 July 1974) is an English actress and presenter whose film debut was in Roman Polanski's film '' The Pianist''. Her other films include the Italian–French–British romance-drama film '' The Soul Keeper'' (2 ...
,
Nathan Stewart-Jarrett
Nathan Lloyd Stewart-Jarrett (born 4 December 1985) is a British actor, best known for starring as Curtis Donovan in the E4 series ''Misfits'' and as Ian in the Channel 4 series ''Utopia''.
Early life
Stewart-Jarrett was born in Wandsworth, ...
and
Anthony Welsh
Anthony Michael Welsh (born 5 July 1983) is an English actor. He made his film debut in '' Red Tails'' (2012). On television, he is known for his role as Lucky Gordon in ''The Trial of Christine Keeler'' (2019–2020).
Early life and education
...
.
Premise
Christine Keeler, an English model and a showgirl, becomes entangled in a scandal at age 21, after a series of events involving her two ex-boyfriends
Johnny Edgecombe
John Arthur Alexander Edgecombe (22 October 1932 – 26 September 2010) was a British jazz promoter, whose involvement with Christine Keeler inadvertently alerted authorities to the Profumo affair.
Early life
Edgecombe was born on 22 October 19 ...
and
Lucky Gordon, in combination with
MI5
The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...
's secret service intrigues. These combine to reveal publicly two of Keeler's affairs from two years before when she was 19. Both affairs were with prominent married men -
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
naval attaché
Yevgeny Ivanov, and
Secretary of State for War,
John Profumo
John Dennis Profumo, CBE,( ; 30 January 1915 – 9 March 2006) was a British politician whose career ended in 1963 after a sexual relationship with the 19-year-old model Christine Keeler in 1961. The scandal, which became known as the Profumo ...
, at the height of the
Cold War.
Cast
Main cast
*
Sophie Cookson
Sophie Cookson (born 1989 or 1990) is an English actress best known for portraying secret agent Roxanne "Roxy" Morton / Lancelot in the 2014 spy film '' Kingsman: The Secret Service'' and its 2017 sequel '' The Golden Circle'', and for playing ...
as
Christine Keeler
*
James Norton as
Dr. Stephen Ward, an
osteopath who introduces Profumo to Keeler.
*
Ellie Bamber
Eleanor Elizabeth Bamber (born 2 February 1997) is an English actress. She won third prize at the Ian Charleson Awards for her 2017 performance in ''The Lady from the Sea'' at the Donmar Warehouse. On television, she is known for her roles in th ...
as
Mandy Rice-Davies
Marilyn Rice-Davies (21 October 1944 – 18 December 2014) was a Welsh model and showgirl best known for her association with Christine Keeler and her role in the Profumo affair, which discredited the Conservative government of British Prime Mi ...
, model, showgirl and friend of Keeler.
*
Ben Miles as
John Profumo
John Dennis Profumo, CBE,( ; 30 January 1915 – 9 March 2006) was a British politician whose career ended in 1963 after a sexual relationship with the 19-year-old model Christine Keeler in 1961. The scandal, which became known as the Profumo ...
, a
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
MP and
Secretary of State for War who is plunged into a scandal after his affair with Keeler is exposed.
*
Emilia Fox
Emilia Rose Elizabeth Fox (born 31 July 1974) is an English actress and presenter whose film debut was in Roman Polanski's film '' The Pianist''. Her other films include the Italian–French–British romance-drama film '' The Soul Keeper'' (2 ...
as
Valerie Hobson
Babette Louisa Valerie Hobson (14 April 1917 – 13 November 1998) was a British actress whose film career spanned the 1930s to the early 1950s. Her second husband was John Profumo, a British government minister who became the subject of the P ...
, the actress wife of Profumo.
Recurring and guest cast
*
Nathan Stewart-Jarrett
Nathan Lloyd Stewart-Jarrett (born 4 December 1985) is a British actor, best known for starring as Curtis Donovan in the E4 series ''Misfits'' and as Ian in the Channel 4 series ''Utopia''.
Early life
Stewart-Jarrett was born in Wandsworth, ...
as
Johnny Edgecombe
John Arthur Alexander Edgecombe (22 October 1932 – 26 September 2010) was a British jazz promoter, whose involvement with Christine Keeler inadvertently alerted authorities to the Profumo affair.
Early life
Edgecombe was born on 22 October 19 ...
, a jazz promoter whose involvement with Keeler inadvertently alerted authorities to the
Profumo affair
The Profumo affair was a major scandal in twentieth-century British politics. John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government, had an extramarital affair with 19-year-old model Christine Keeler be ...
.
*
Anthony Welsh
Anthony Michael Welsh (born 5 July 1983) is an English actor. He made his film debut in '' Red Tails'' (2012). On television, he is known for his role as Lucky Gordon in ''The Trial of Christine Keeler'' (2019–2020).
Early life and education
...
as
Lucky Gordon, a jazz singer who comes to public attention due to his involvement with Keeler.
* Visar Vishka as
Eugene Ivanov, Soviet naval attaché having sex with Keeler at the same time she was seeing Profumo.
*
Jonny Coyne
Jonathan "Jonny" Coyne (born 1 January 1953) is an English actor known for playing Warden Edwin James on Fox's short-lived series, ''Alcatraz'' (2012). He also appeared as Dr. Lydgate in '' Once Upon a Time in Wonderland'' and '' Once Upon a T ...
as
Peter Rachman
Perec "Peter" Rachman (16 August 1919 – 29 November 1962) was a Polish-born landlord who operated in Notting Hill, London, England in the 1950s and early 1960s. He became notorious for his exploitation of his tenants, with the word "Rachmanism" ...
, a notorious landlord who maintained Rice-Davies as his mistress until his sudden death from a heart attack. Keeler had also previously been his mistress.
* Neran Persaud as
Emil Savundra, a notorious swindler treated by Ward and who met Keeler and Rice-Davies.
*
Amanda Drew
Amanda Drew (born 12 December 1969) is an English actress with extensive credits in theatre, television and film.
Biography
One of four children, Drew was born in Boston, Lincolnshire. Drew's mother was a nurse and her father was a vicar. When ...
as Julie Ellen Payne, Keeler's mother.
*
Tim McInnerny
Tim McInnerny ( ; born 18 September 1956) is an English actor. He is known for his many roles on stage and television, including as Lord Percy Percy and Captain Darling in the 1980s British sitcom ''Blackadder''.
Early life
McInnerny was bor ...
as
Martin Redmayne MP, the
Chief Whip of the ruling Conservative Party.
*
Michael Maloney as
Viscount Astor
Viscount Astor, of Hever Castle in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1917 for the financier and statesman William Waldorf Astor, 1st Baron Astor. He had already been created Baron Astor, of ...
, with whom Rice-Davies claimed in court to have had sexual intercourse.
*
Anton Lesser
Anton Lesser (born 14 February 1952) is an English actor. He is well known for his roles as Qyburn in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'', as Thomas More in ''Wolf Hall'', as Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in ''The Crown'', as Prime Minister ...
as
Michael Eddowes
Michael Henry Beaumont Eddowes (8 October 1903 – 28 December 1993)''England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007'England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1995'' was a British lawye ...
, a lawyer who was a close friend of Ward.
*
Aidan McArdle as
Roger Hollis
Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ...
, the Director General of MI5 from 1956–1965.
*
Peter Davison as
James Burge
Charles George James Burge, (8 October 1906 – 6 September 1990) was an English criminal law barrister, remembered for his defence of Stephen Ward in the Profumo affair in 1963. He is also remembered as John Mortimer's original inspiration for ...
, Ward's defence barrister.
*
Alex Macqueen
Alexander Tulloch Macqueen (born 30 November 1973) is an English actor. He has appeared on television, film and radio in the UK in productions such as '' Holby City'', '' Doctor Who,'' ''Hut 33'', ''Peep Show'', ''The Thick of It'', ''Keeping ...
as
Mervyn Griffith-Jones
John Mervyn Guthrie Griffith-Jones (1 July 1909 – 13 July 1979) was a British judge and former barrister. He led the prosecution of Penguin Books in the obscenity trial in 1960 following the publication of D. H. Lawrence's ''Lady Chatterley' ...
, the barrister for the prosecution in Ward's trial.
*
Paul Jesson
Paul Jesson is an English stage, television and film actor and an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
He has played leading roles at the National Theatre and the RSC and won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supp ...
as
Judge Marshall, the presiding judge at Ward's trial.
*
Paul Ritter
Simon Paul Adams (20 December 1966 – 5 April 2021), known professionally as Paul Ritter, was an English actor. He had roles in films including ''Son of Rambow'' (2007), '' Quantum of Solace'' (2008), ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' ...
as
Jeremy Hutchinson, Keeler's defence barrister.
*
Neil Morrissey as Colin Keeler, Keeler's estranged father.
*
Danny Webb as
George Wigg
George Edward Cecil Wigg, Baron Wigg, PC (28 November 1900 – 11 August 1983) was a British Labour Party politician who only served in relatively junior offices but had a great deal of influence behind the scenes, especially with Harold Wils ...
, a prominent opposition
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
politician.
*
William Gaminara
William Gaminara (born 1956) is a Rhodesian-born British actor, screenwriter and playwright, probably best known for playing pathologist Professor Leo Dalton on the television series ''Silent Witness'', from 2002 to 2013. His plays include ''Acco ...
as Sir
John Hobson QC MP, the
Attorney General.
* Buffy Davis as
Barbara Castle MP, a prominent opposition Labour politician.
Production
Development
''The Trial of Christine Keeler'' was announced as a project by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
attached to script. At the time, Coe stated, "I’m excited to have the opportunity to bring a fresh lens to a story that has become a powerful fable of our national identity. The astonishing story of
– a perfect storm of gender, class, race and power that resonates into the world we’re living in today."
in December 2018. Filming was also spotted on Lansdown Terrace Lane,
.
handled the distribution rights internationally, with Endeavor Content in the United States.
The show received generally positive reviews.
, Paul Kirkley gave the show 4 out of 5 stars, saying: "In an age where politicians appear increasingly bulletproof in the face of scandal, there was a danger that The Trial of Christine Keeler’s sexual and political shenanigans might look tame in comparison. But there’s something about the characters in this particular drama that,
makes the story as compelling today as it was to the people following every twist and turn in the headlines six decades ago."
remains a furiously fast, fun ride which doesn’t let the deeper, darker issues fall from its grasp."
with: "Keeler, who we see at one point playing around with a handgun in her knickers, is more armed and dangerous than just a pretty, vapid bystander, we are meant to understand. But when we later see a tabloid headline that helped thrust her into public consciousness with the words, “Model in Shooting Drama”, you have to wonder, amid all the glam and gloss that surrounds her, how much deeper is the series?"