A very English scandal

[Cistersaredoingitforthemselves]

Looking forward to seeing this

I have read the book and it was excellent.

I remember this happening and it being one of the earliest political scandals I was aware of ( and actually understood) - Watergate was my first but I was only small and didn't understand

Peter Bessell - the owner of a face like a badly tessellated pavement

Probably the best caption of a photo ever

If I remember, George Carmen QC, JT's barrister, was famous for defending upper class crooks.
I thought Norman was the only one who came out of it all with any dignity. Shame about poor Rinka though.
The flashbacks were to show how JC got his kicks from picking up 'rough trade' and enjoyed being knocked about. He said Norman was 'the best' of them all.Sad but he was still an entitled, arrogant user.

This has been the first time for a very long time that I've been impatient for 9pm on a Sunday to sit down and watch telly.
I hope Hugh Grant and Ben Wishaw get BAFTA nominations for this.

I thought the flashback scenes of JT picking up men offered good context. A reminder of how things were in those days - homosexuality was illegal, shameful and dangerous. Yes it was sordid, but so is anything that has been driven underground.

I thought Marion came out of it well. That scene where they had cod in parsley sauce (I couldn't help thinking 'boil-in-the-bag?') and she twigged that JT had cared for Norman was very touching.

I agree Aornis first thing since for a long time on TV that have made a point of watching "live". Excellent

Yes, I agree with posters above about JT and the flashback scenes. Risks he took, maybe when it was all illegal. I wonder if it showed what kind of a double life he led.

Good grief- it was Michelle Dotrice!I cannot believe how Michelle Dotrice has aged so badly. I saw her a Juliet in Romeo and Juliet in the theatre about 40 years ago. She looks so much older than she is.

On another note, are we to believe that George Carmen also had a gay side? He implied with his chat to JT that he too had enjoyed some gay sex.

I was an adult when the JT trial was going on. At the time it didn't seem nearly as exciting as it did on TV!

I thought HG was brilliant- I forgot it was Hugh most of the time and really believed he was JT.

@morningtoncrescent69

I agree that Hugh Laurie was excellent

. You mean Hugh Grant don't you?

Good grief- it was Michelle Dotrice!I cannot believe how Michelle Dotrice has aged so badly. I saw her a Juliet in Romeo and Juliet in the theatre about 40 years ago. She looks so much older than she is
She is nearly 70 and in character! I don't think she has aged badly at all.

Actually I thought she looked really pretty!

I always felt sorry for Betty in ‘some mother’s do have ‘em’ she put up with a lot from Frank.
She was good in this.
When the Beeb do dramas well ,
there’s nothing to compare in my opinion!

Michelle D has put on a lot of weight compared to how she was in her 20s. IMO she looks older than 69, compared to other women I know - public and private- that age.

I didn't recognise her in the series until I saw the credits.

Jane Banks in Mary Poppins was MD’s sister Karen. I always get confused when one of them is in something.

I didn’t recognise Michelle until DH told me it was her (& still thought it was Jane Banks )

*Queenofthenights
*
What's the matter with you? How shallow to make an issue of a nearly 70 year old woman having put on weight since she was in her 20s. So fucking what?

The old Panorama shown afterwards last night showed just how much of a cover up there had been, Even the PM Harold Wilson was in on it and MI5 knew about JT's double life. They were afraid he would be blackmailed by the Russians. Still, no one did anything.
George Carman (sorry about earlier spelling) had to win the case as he had been involved in a drink-drive incident and was facing financial ruin. He pulled strings to get the trial date before his own case came up so it would reflect well on him. Lots more in the Sunday Times.

I thought that Ben Whishaw was amazing in this. He portrayed Norman's brittle vulnerability so well. Fragile and strong somehow at the same time. Hugh Grant was also surprisingly good. The pace of the show was fantastic and held my attention so well (which is unusual these days as I have the attention span of a gnat)

Best TV in a very long time.
HG was absolutely brilliant.

*The flashbacks were to show how JC got his kicks from picking up up 'rough trade' and enjoyed being knocked about
*
I don't think it showed that at all. I think it was more that gay people were extremely vulnerable to violence back then because of the secretive & underground way they had to conduct their sex lives. Thorpe, with Norman, got the no-strings sex he wanted without risking being beaten up. I thought this was the single little nod of sympathy Thorpe got - generous, considering he didn't deserve any at all, really.

Norman was clearly a bit of a lost soul - possibly bipolar and not at all violent.
It was nice to see him at the end looking well - living a quiet life with his many dogs - I really hope he is happy.
Ben wishaw is a fine actor - hope to see him in more things. I wonder if he will be Q again in the next Bond film!

HG didn’t seem to be enjoying casual sex with those men, he looked scared and vulnerable and not what he wanted at all.
That’s why he liked Norman because Norman wasn’t violent.
That’s how I saw it?

Yes, I took it that Thorpe liked Norman because he was gentle and it was a relief.

I think it really showed the secretive nature of homosexuality back then, and the fear. Not only of being found out and being thrown in jail, but of being vulnerable to abuse because the blokes you were with knew you could never go to the police about them.

I took it that the kind of person a gay man might pick up in the street in those days were likely to use it as a chance to rob you knowing that you couldn’t go to the police.

Good grief- it was Michelle Dotrice!I cannot believe how Michelle Dotrice has aged so badly.

What a hateful thing to say.
Time passes and woman gets older. Fuck me. I do hope all on this thread still look exactly how we did 40 years ago!

Yes once you'd put yourself on the wrong side of the law you were vulnerable to blackmail, robbery, violence and so on.
I suspect JT wanted love and affection that was lacking in his pick ups but Norman gave him that. Which was a different kind of risk.

KurriKurri , that is amazing, DH's dad was in the same camp, and only last week, DH was showing someone his dad's wartime log book, which friends in the camp had signed at the back, and one of the signatures was Roy Dotrice's!

What a hateful thing to say. I completely agree
Time passes and woman gets older. Fuck me. I do hope all on this thread still look exactly how we did 40 years ago! Everyone gets older, not just women! ( sadly looks at me and DP and then think fuck it! We are still alive and having fun even if we have put a few stone on between us!)