Inside a dying industry, two London papers circle each other like rival predators. The Herald clings to liberal probity under editor Amina Chaudury while The Post chases clicks and circulations for editor Duncan Allen, a man who treats ethics as a variable expense. Between them sits Holly Evans, news editor at The Herald, former star reporter and Duncan’s ex-lover, still energised by scoops yet exhausted by budgets that shrink weekly.
Each episode drops a fresh grenade: a Cabinet minister’s secret, a migrant’s death, a celebrity suicide. Reporters trade sources, owners pull strings, and the printers roll whatever survives the pre-publication legal conference. Charlotte Riley keeps Holly restless and abrasive, never more alive than when a story is slipping away, while Ben Chaplin gives Duncan a shark’s warmth, charming roomfuls then sinking anyone who bores him. Around them Paapa Essiedu, Al Weaver and Ellie Kendrick sketch younger hacks learning that getting it right and getting it read are seldom the same thing.
Mike Bartlett’s scripts move faster than a tabloid deadline, cutting from newsroom to courtroom to bedroom without pausing for moral lectures. The result is a six-part snapshot of British journalism at the moment when Twitter began dictating front pages and advertising revenue headed for the exit. No heroes, no villains, only people who need the story to run because mortgages, egos and reputations depend on it.
Production Details
BBC One / 1 Season / 6 Episodes / 2018
Created by: Mike Bartlett
Showrunner(s): Nigel Stafford-Clark, Rebecca Eaton, Mike Bartlett
Writer(s): Mike Bartlett
Producer(s): Paul Gilbert
Main Cast
Charlotte Riley as Holly Evans
Ben Chaplin as Duncan Allen
Priyanga Burford as Amina Chaudury
Paapa Essiedu as Ed Washburn
Ellie Kendrick as Leona Manning-Lynd
Al Weaver as James Edwards
Brendan Cowell as Peter Langly
David Suchet as George Emmerson
Natasha Little as Sarah Allen
David Schofield as Chris Cartwright
