Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards | Preview (5)

Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards is a major, feature-length factual drama exploring the story of how a vulnerable 17-year-old boy was groomed by one of the most powerful figures in television - Huw Edwards.

Starring Martin Clunes (Doc Martin, Wuthering Heights, Manhunt) as Edwards, the drama explores the newsreader’s double life as it spirals out of control, leading to his total exit from public life following his conviction for making indecent images of children.

The drama paints an unflinching portrait of what it is like for the vulnerable to be groomed by powerful figures, revealing how Edwards seized on and exerted control over the young man (played by Osian Morgan), leaving lasting consequences.

In September 2022, Huw Edwards was one of Britain’s most-trusted newsreaders, chosen to deliver the most important news to the British public. To an audience of millions across the country, he made the historic declaration that Queen Elizabeth II had died.

In July 2023, a national newspaper reported that “a top BBC star” had paid a “teenager for sexual pictures”. As rumours started to fly, and other young men came forward to report similar experiences, the mystery presenter was unmasked as Edwards and the fall from grace began.

What most people, including the teenager at the heart of the story, didn’t know at that time was the truth was far darker than even those shocking headlines could convey. Because one of the online friendships Edwards had struck up was with a man who, from December 2020 to August 2021, repeatedly sent him messages containing child abuse imagery which he accessed, including so called ‘Category A’ images - the most extreme. In this case one moving image depicted a child who was between approximately seven and nine years old.

The police started to investigate Edwards’ online activity, leading him to plead guilty to making indecent images of children at Westminster Magistrates Court in 2024.

For the teenager, who at the time of the 2023 newspaper exposé did not feel he could speak out about the true nature of their relationship, the realisation that he had unwittingly been in a sexual relationship with a man who accessed child pornography and his ability to finally cut off all contact with Edwards, finally gave him the strength to start his recovery and tell his story.

The film is based on extensive factual research over the past 12 months, including exclusive first-hand interviews with those at the heart of the story, and many of the text messages between Edwards and the young man. The drama also had exclusive access to The Sun newspaper’s award-winning investigation into Edwards.

Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards airs Tuesday 24th March on 5.