# The Trial of Christine Keeler (2019)

> A six-part BBC dramatisation of the 1960s Profumo affair, following the woman at its centre and the scandal that exposed British establishment hypocrisy.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/81747

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 6
- Episode runtime: 55 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, history
- Created by: Amanda Coe
- Network: BBC One
- Cast: Sophie Cookson, James Norton, Ellie Bamber, Ben Miles, Emilia Fox, Michael Maloney, Rosalind Halstead, Anthony Welsh
- TMDB rating: 6.9/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8001036/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: mild
- Tone: sensational, sorrowful, sharp, tense

## What critics say

Critics broadly praised the miniseries for its restrained, well-researched dramatisation of the Profumo affair and for its central performances.

## Synopsis

The Trial of Christine Keeler (2019-2020) is a British BBC One miniseries created by Amanda Coe, a six-episode limited series dramatising one of the twentieth century's most explosive political scandals. Sophie Cookson plays Christine Keeler, a young woman drawn into a web of affairs with the married Conservative minister John Profumo (Ben Miles), while James Norton stars as osteopath Stephen Ward, the society figure whose social circle becomes the centre of the storm. Ellie Bamber plays Mandy Rice-Davies, Keeler's friend and fellow member of the same orbit. The engine of the story is the collision between private appetite and public duty, as Keeler and her circle are pursued by a press and an establishment determined to contain the damage, and the spy and cover-up threads tighten around them episode by episode. Set in 1960s London and the English country house world, the series is a British period drama of a true scandal, carrying a tone that is sharp, sensational and quietly sorrowful. Its focus on a woman caught in institutional hypocrisy will appeal to viewers of The Crown and Mad Men, and fans of Chernobyl will find resonance in its portrait of a national institution failing its people. The series runs for a single season and is a sober, carefully paced piece of television history.

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