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Original poster

The Trial of Christine Keeler

283 replies

unique1986 · 05/12/2019 20:44

BBC drama starts 29th December 9pm

Yeah I know I'm early with this thread, but I can't wait.
I know nothing about this other than the brief articles I've read but it just looks like my kind of drama.

OP posts:
IcedPurple · 06/01/2020 08:40

I have to disagree that this was a really good episode. I'm getting bored with it and find it's dragging. I simply don't think the story is complex or even interesting enough to warrant so many episodes, especially with such a lack of appealling characters who make you care about them.

LadofThigh · 06/01/2020 09:05

@TheTruthAboutLove I think your grandmother was mixing Christine Keeler up with Janie Jones.

The80sweregreat · 06/01/2020 09:32

I mentioned my MP to someone the other day and he is quite famous and been on tv and has been everywhere etc etc and she had no clue who he was!
I can believe that she wouldn't know who they were back then especially without 24 hour news and most people didn't own a tv too.
I feel it's dragging a bit now too.

xsquared · 06/01/2020 19:40

End of 3 episodes and we're only just getting the start of the exposure and trial. I think it's really dragged which is a shame as I really wanted to see this.
I hope the following episodes pick up but it's very slow with little going on.

stumbledin · 06/01/2020 23:24

I suppose I was thinking more that she would have by being in same the room as some of them she would have picked up something.

But yes, as has been said above, there are many people who aren't in touch with who is in power (or even Greta Thunberg / Sharon). And I dont think it is necessarily them who are the problem. The way news is reported I think most people switch off.

Does any one have any thoughts as to why CK mum somehow seems more accepting of her daughter's life. Is it the money, or the fact that she has been mixing with "important" people?

I'm not finding it slow, but immensely irrated by the time jumps. I still dont have a clear idea of how CK or MRD came to be in situations they found themselves in.

And it would be good to have more conversation between them, ie about what is going on and do they really think it is going to work out well for them instead of the hand to mouth existence they seem to have.

IcedPurple · 07/01/2020 09:14

End of 3 episodes and we're only just getting the start of the exposure and trial

Yeah, we're half way through and we're still nowhere near the trial, yet it's called the 'Trial of Christine Keeler'. This is a very well-known story, and this really isn't offering anything new, so not sure why they decided on so many episodes.

The80sweregreat · 07/01/2020 09:44

The one who plays Profumo is charismatic ! Not the best looking one in it but there is something about him.
To stand up and lie like that is so blatant !
Her famous words ' he would say that , wouldn't he?' Haven't been uttered yet but I'm sure it will. I can't believe there are two more episodes to go still.

EoinMcLovesCakeJumper · 07/01/2020 10:15

Three more! It's six parts, which I agree is too many. It could have been a really tight three or four parter and it would still have covered all the necessary story.

I haven't got really bored yet but I think I will be if they don't get onto the trial soon.

KnifeAngel · 07/01/2020 10:16

@The80sweregreat there are 3 more episodes left not 2.

I am enjoying this.

The80sweregreat · 07/01/2020 10:48

3 more ! lol 😂
Goodness me. I think it will lose viewers by then.

MrsElijahMikaelson1 · 07/01/2020 12:08

I’m enjoying it so will see it through. Love the fashion and hair though!

IcedPurple · 07/01/2020 12:37

The one who plays Profumo is charismatic ! Not the best looking one in it but there is something about him.
To stand up and lie like that is so blatant !

I wouldn't call that 'charisma'. More like ego, arrogance and sexism. Keeler was just a disposable plaything for him, no doubt one of many. How dare that low-class little woman cause trouble for someone like the great John Profumo?

The80sweregreat · 07/01/2020 14:39

I guess I just like the actor playing Profumo but not his actual part as Profumo was a horrible cheat and a liar.
He treated women appallingly and I feel sorry for his wife in this too : not sure if she knew about his affairs or not but it comes a across that she might have guessed things were going on , but chose to ignore it all?
I only know a few bits about this case as it was all happening a few years before I was born.

xsquared · 12/01/2020 22:48

I'm surprised no one has commented on tonight's episode so far, because I think it's picking up pace.

Despite being exploited by Stephen, I am beginning to feel sorry for him once his clients and friends started distancing themselves from him.

xsquared · 12/01/2020 22:49

The actor who plays Profumo, Ben Miles, was also in The Capture. So that's twice now he's played a man shagging a female character much younger than himself. Typecast?

IcedPurple · 12/01/2020 22:58

I think the reason for the lack of comments is that, well, it's all a bit blah.

It's not awful by any means, but nothing to get excited about. It's a story which has been told many times before and 4 episodes in, this production doesn't really add anything to what we already know. As I've said before, the characters and plot just aren't interesting or complex enough to warrant so many episodes and at times it feels a bit repetitive, especially with the lazy overuse of flashbacks. Also, while the acting is good, the production and script are a bit banal.

It's all just a bit lacklustre I suppose.

IcedPurple · 12/01/2020 23:02

So that's twice now he's played a man shagging a female character much younger than himself. Typecast?

Shagging much younger women is pretty much the norm for men on TV! He also played Group Captain Peter Townsend in 'The Crown', another real-life character with a taste for much younger women.

And while a poster above described him as 'charismatic' I don't think so at all. I think he's tremendously sleazy. I feel dirty just looking at him on the screen. I don't mean that as an insult towards Ben Miles who I'm sure is a very nice man. In fact it's a compliment to his acting that he manages to portray the sleaziness of John Profumo so convincingly.

Zzzz19 · 12/01/2020 23:09

This whole story could have been done in one 90 minute.drama

HeIenaDove · 13/01/2020 00:18

The way the young women were treated by the police........

Also the comment "this isnt Russia" Ironic timing!

Original poster
unique1986 · 13/01/2020 00:20

Yes still enjoying this.
Cant believe how many times Christine was hit by men.
Also how was Profumo so rich? Like more than normal politicians? Millions etc

OP posts:
Original poster
unique1986 · 13/01/2020 00:27

The writer who wrote this did Apple Tree Yard.
I think that was a success and bbc have given her this and something called Black Narcissist coming sometime this year.

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BodenGate · 13/01/2020 00:28

This episode was the best one so far. It clashed with Louis Thereux and Love Island tonight so people may not have watched it yet or decided to give up.

The80sweregreat · 13/01/2020 06:58

I meant the actor playing Profumo had charisma not Profumo himself! He was a sleaze. I didn't see it last night but I'll catch up soon.

EuphorbiaHemlockthe1st · 13/01/2020 07:00

I don't think it captures the time as well as the Jeremy Thorpe scandal series.

If you had sex before marriage you were a slut. End of. Imv people are behaving too sympathetically to CK.
All the cameramen blocking the doorways never happened in those days so the attention it is getting (a shown in this series) is unprecedented. But that isn't really made clear.

There were only a few newspapers and no hand held tv cameras and the news was often what was discussed in parliament. So usually very boring.
It was the middle of the Cold War with Russia and Communism - hence the need for a War Minister . For example to quote from Wiki 'October 16 1962 : Cuban Missile Crisis: The Soviets have secretly been installing military bases, including nuclear weapons, on Cuba, some 90 miles from the US mainland. Kennedy orders a "quarantine" (a naval blockade) of the island that intensifies the crisis and brings the US and the USSR to the brink of nuclear war. In the end, both sides reach a compromise. The Soviets back down and agree to withdraw their nuclear missiles from Cuba, in exchange for a secret agreement by Kennedy pledging to withdraw similar American missiles from Turkey and Italy, and guaranteeing that the US will not move against the Castro regime.
Hence the risk of info being passed to a Russian Diplomat was very very serious. hence the seriousness of the scandal.

I don't think this series explains that well.

Hardymonica · 13/01/2020 07:43

Did they actually have sex for money? Stephen is a bizarre character, seeming to enjoy setting up people like chess pieces but never getting involved with anyone himself. I struggle to have much sympathy at all with the character of Christine, she’s brattish and manipulative and only out for herself. I find her intensely irritating!! Good acting all round though.

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