Can’t decide what to watch tonight? You’re in luck, as James Norton’s ‘iconic’ BBC spy thriller The Trial Of Christine Keeler is now on Netflix, meaning your next binge is sorted. The six-part drama first aired in 2019 to rave reviews and follows the events surrounding the real-life scandal of British politics in the 1960s, known as the Profumo affair.
The drama is centred on the experience of Christine Keeler, the 19-year-old woman at the heart of the real story. When she engages in an affair with politician John Profumo, it sparks a cataclysmic tangle of sex, lies, secrets – and even spying – in Cold War-era London.
Here’s everything you need to know about the exciting drama, including what happened in the real case…
Is The Trial Of Christine Keeler a true story?
The Trial Of Christine Keeler is based on the true story of the infamous Profumo case, told from the perspective of the woman at the heart of it all. ‘When 19-year-old model Christine finds herself in a love triangle with a spy and a minister, the whole establishment comes tumbling down,’ reads the BBC synopsis, adding that it was, ‘the story that shocked Britain’.
What is The Trial Of Christine Keeler about?
Well-connected osteopath Stephen Ward (James Norton) has fingers in many pies, with his successful medical practice meaning he’s a friend to high-up politicians. He also credits himself for ‘discovering’ girls, including model Christine Keeler, ‘a young woman whom the powerful, male-dominated establishment sought to silence and exploit, but who refused to play by their rules’, explains the BBC.
When he brings 19-year-old Christine along to Cliveden House, she meets older, married politician John Profumo, leading to an illicit affair that will change history. But it’s not just Profumo who Christine is involved with, as jazz singer Aloysius ‘Lucky’ Gordon, dealer Johnny Edgecombe and even Russian spy Yevgeny Ivanov (who MI5 are trying to convince to become a double agent) overlap into a deep and complex web of secrets, connections and dangerous emotions.
Inevitably, tensions begin to spill over, leading to an explosive scandal in the British press, as the dots begin to be connected, and criminal trials for almost all involved. The drama ‘takes us behind the headlines to tell a human story about the sexual and cultural politics of one of the most revealing and iconic stories of modern times’, says the BBC.
Who is in The Trial Of Christine Keeler?
The cast list for the show includes:
- Christine Keeler – Sophie Cookson
- Stephen Ward – James Norton
- Mandy Rice-Davies – Ellie Bamber
- Valerie Profumo – Emilia Fox
- John Profumo – Ben Miles
- DS John Burrows – Sam Troughton
- Aloysius ‘Lucky’ Gordon – Anthony Welsh
- Johnny Edgecombe – Nathan Stewart Jarrett
- DI Herbert – Louis Hilyer
- Martin Redmayne MP – Tim McInnerny
- Michael Eddowes – Anton Lesser
- Bill Astor – Michael Maloney
- Bronwen Astor – Rosalind Halstead
- Paul Mann – Jack Greenlees
- Paula Hamilton-Marshall – Chloe Harris
- Julie Huish – Amanda Drew
- Alan – Sam Crane
- Eugene Ivanov – Visar Vishka
- Ronna – Charlene Boyd
- James Burge – Peter Davidson
- Griffith-Jones – Alex MacQueen
- George Wigg MP – Danny Webb
- Woods – Martin Hutson
- Hutchinson – Paul Ritter
- Colin – Neil Morrissey
- Roger Hollis – Aiden McArdle
- Judge Marshall – Paul Jesson
- Rudolph ‘Watt’/’Truello’ Fenton – Micah Balfour
- Camacchio – CJ Beckford
- Peter Rachmann – Jonny Coyne
- Len – Dorian Lough
How can I watch The Trial Of Christine Keeler?
You can watch The Trial of Christine Keeler on Netflix now.
