A Very English Scandal

a limited mini-series of 3 episodes

watched on  Amazon Prime 07/07/2018



This is an amazing story. The 3 episodes of this mini series details the events leading up to and including the trial of former MP and Liberal Party Leader, Jeremy Thorpe and his companions in a murder conspiracy regarding Mr. Thorpe's (alleged) male lover, Norman Scott. The outcome could have only happened within its time period, just before homosexuality was decriminalized in the UK. Hugh Grant (as Jeremy Thorpe) was a revelation. I have enjoyed seeing him in comedies, but never realized the full extent of his talent. Ben Whishaw (as Norman Scott) was alternately infuriating, clever and sad. His performance was also expertly done. There were no bad performances in this film. While I did find that A Very English Scandal had a slow beginning,  due to quickly accelerating circus of dumbness, utter arrogance and unbelievable incompetence of the major characters involved I think the director made the right choice. Had it begun crazy, the later scenes would have been not as dramatic. The date/location tags added to the screen were helpful and in no way took me out of the story. The actors were uniformly believable while bringing unbelievable (yet true) characters to life. Do not leave before this series concludes. There are some final notes that give the fate of most of the real life participants.  The almost fantastical irony comes with the last character. That brief description, sums up this wild occurrence with a concise statement proving British irony has no equal.