The downfall of former BBC presenter Huw Edwards is set to be dramatised in a new two-part television series, with Martin Clunes cast in the lead role. The factual drama, provisionally titled Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards, has been commissioned by Channel 5 and will chart how one of the most recognisable figures in British broadcasting became engulfed in a scandal that ended his career and led to a suspended prison sentence.
Clunes, best known for Doc Martin and Men Behaving Badly, will portray the Bridgend-born newsreader, whose career spanned decades at the BBC and included presenting News at Ten and announcing the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The series will recount how allegations first emerged, how the story was investigated, and the personal and public consequences that followed.
Channel 5 said the programme will explore “how a vulnerable 17-year-old was groomed by one of the most powerful figures in television” and will depict Edwards’s “double life as it spirals out of control, leading him to make the greatest announcement of his career – his total exit from public life following his conviction for serious child sexual offences”. The broadcaster confirmed the production has been in development for around a year, though no transmission date has yet been announced.
Edwards’s fall from grace began in July 2023, when The Sun reported that a “top BBC star” had paid a teenager for sexual images. Days later, Edwards’s wife publicly identified him as the presenter at the centre of the allegations. He resigned from the BBC in April 2024.
In June 2024, following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police, Edwards was charged with three counts of making indecent images of children in connection with WhatsApp exchanges with a man named Alex Williams, a convicted paedophile. A month later, he pleaded guilty, admitting to having received 41 illegal images, including seven in the most serious category. In September 2024, he was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and placed on the sex offenders’ register for seven years.
Ben Frow, Channel 5’s chief content officer, said: “This is an important and shocking story of how a man in a position of power and trust betrayed that status. By gaining exclusive access to the key individuals involved and those who investigated the story, we explore the human cost behind the headlines.”
The series will be directed by Michael Samuels, known for The Windermere Children and Any Human Heart, and will feature interviews with journalists and others involved in uncovering the story.
Commenting on Channel 5’s approach, TV critic Scott Bryan said the broadcaster has a history of commissioning programmes that attract attention and controversy. “Channel 5 has a knack for creating highbrow drama, but also documentary and factual series that raise eyebrows and perhaps cause controversy, but will get people tuning in out of intrigue,” he said.The project follows the channel’s recent willingness to tackle high-profile scandals, including a 2024 edition of Cast Away featuring former ITV presenter Phillip Schofield.
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