Martin Clunes on Portraying Huw Edwards in Channel 5 Drama
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- Martin Clunes stars as Huw Edwards in Channel 5's feature-length drama 'Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards,' airing 24 March on 5 and streaming service My5
- Clunes said he focused the drama on victim 'Ryan' and his family rather than 'the fallen big man,' telling the BBC he was 'surprised' Edwards was the presenter at the centre of the scandal
- Edwards resigned from the BBC in April 2024 and was sentenced in September 2024 to a six-month jail term, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children
- Clunes studied archive footage of Edwards both on and off-screen, telling the BBC he wanted to capture 'the other side of him' beyond the 'projected face' of the newsreader
- Clunes said multiple people who knew Edwards told him he 'was never fun to work with,' adding that actors should 'never be judging' the characters they play
- Clunes and co-star Osian Morgan, who plays 'Ryan,' chose to be physically present in the room for their phone-call scenes so they could decompress together afterward
Why it matters: The drama, airing 24 March on Channel 5, centres the story on a young victim rather than the disgraced newsreader — a framing Clunes said the press largely overlooked. For Channel 5 and producer ITV Studios, the project tests whether audiences will engage with a high-profile sexual-abuse story told from the victim's perspective, with Edwards' guilty plea and suspended sentence already a matter of public record.
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