Hugh Grant will play a disgraced
British politician in the upcoming BBC drama A Very English
Scandal.
A Very English Scandal is based
on a book by British journalist John Preston and written by Russell
T. Davis, who created Queer as Folk, Cucumber and
Banana.
In the three-part drama, Grant plays
Jeremy Thorpe, a gay politician who was accused of conspiring to
murder his ex-lover Norman Scott, played by Whishaw. Thorpe, as
leader of the Liberal Party, was, in 1979, the youngest person to
lead any British political party in a hundred years.
According to Deadline
Hollywood, A Very English Scandal is directed by Stephen
Frears and executive produced by Dominic Treadwell-Collins, Graham
Broadbent and Peter Czernin for Blueprint Television and Lucy Richer
for the BBC.
“Hugh is one our most iconic British
actors – sharp, witty, deeply human and nuanced – and to have him
play one of the most controversial figures of British politics is
utterly thrilling,” said Treadwell-Collins. “With Russell T
Davies writing and Stephen Frears directing, A Very English
Scandal unites the highest level of talent to bring this
extraordinary true story to life.”
Production on the period piece has
already begun in the U.K. It is expected to air on BBC One in
Britain and Amazon Prime Video in the United States.