A few months ago, disgraced former BBC newsreader Huw Edwards posted a professional looking headshot on his social media, prompting some to wonder if he was planning a public comeback after the scandal that ended his BBC career in 2024.
Accused of paying a teenager thousands of pounds for pornographic material, the man who was once trusted with announcing the death of Queen Elizabeth II was eventually convicted of possessing the most severe category of child abuse images, receiving a suspended sentence and narrowly avoiding prison.
So, the appearance of that official-looking headshot (it was deleted soon afterwards) was a surprise to say the least. And now, following the broadcast of 5’s dramatisation of the scandal, Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards, even Edwards now has to admit that his career as a public figure is over for good.
Even if he genuinely imagined a conviction for possession of child abuse images wasn’t a full stop, he must understand that there’s no way back in light of the revelations contained in the 5 drama, which stars Martin Clunes as the former broadcaster.
The drama reveals some of the messages sent between Edwards and “Ryan” (Photo: Matt Towers/5 Broadcasting Limited/Wonderhood Studios)That’s chiefly because writer Mark Burt was closely informed by interviews, not just with those who worked with Edwards, but with Edwards’s then-teenage victim, now in his 20s and depicted here as “Ryan”, speaking out for the first time.
The details in the drama are truly shocking and tell a depraved story of control, manipulation and abuse that saw Edwards meeting his victim in hotels and offering cash in exchange for sexual performances during video calls. The youngster eventually came to depend on his abuser’s money and fell into addiction as his self-loathing grew.
Meanwhile, Edwards was willingly receiving images of child abuse from convicted paedophile Alex Williams. At one particularly damning point in the drama, Clunes’s character says that he would like more images including a child aged “seven to nine”. The blank look in the fictional Edwards’s eyes as he asks for more depravity over WhatsApp truly chilled me, suggesting this dead-eyed browsing of the vilest images was utterly mundane to him.
At one point, Clunes – who gives a credible and convincing portrayal of the darkness in his subject – is seen hunched over a desk in a gloomy office, masturbating to the material “Ryan” provides for him. The drama is unflinching to say the least and reveals some of the messages exchanged between the pair. Edwards calls the teenager “baby” and adds that he’d prefer to be called “daddy if it’s all the same”.
Above all, Power makes crystal clear that the dynamic between Edwards and Ryan was far from romantic and based entirely on one person’s use of his celebrity to control another. “Earn your keep and know your fucking place,” he barks at Ryan as the youngster drinks his way through the mini bar of the hotel room Edwards is paying for.
Edwards’ then-teenage victim is depicted as “Ryan” (Photo: Matt Towers/5 Broadcasting Limited/ Wonderhood Studios)Adding further nails to Edwards’s professional coffin, another scene set in the offices of The Sun depicts a journalist remarking that they’ve “lost track of the young men who’ve contacted us about him”, suggesting a pattern of behaviour had been reported long before the 2024 scandal broke.
If the drama provides any sort of public service remit, it is to outline the mechanics of abuse, the small steps that lead from an initial testing of boundaries into a full-blown take-over of a victim’s life. Clunes, with ears pinned back and features cleverly altered, plays the whole thing with a barely concealed rage, that arched brow and permanent scowl conveying the widely discussed resentment Edwards had towards his Oxbridge-educated BBC colleagues.
Captions at the end of the almost two-hour film tell us that Ryan wanted to speak out in order not to be defined by his experiences any longer. Edwards didn’t respond to the filmmakers’ approach for comment, we’re told.
The film opens with Clunes in black tie and sombre expression, announcing the death of the Queen, his place as the country’s most eminent broadcaster secured. But in the final minutes, he’s back behind the desk, describing his own undoing: the categories of child abuse images he was convicted of possessing.
“And that’s all from me,” he concludes. After this, there can be absolutely no doubt of that.
‘Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards’ is streaming on 5
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