Martin Clunes as Huw Edwards in its highly anticipated new drama Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards.
a feature length factual drama
The Doc Martin and Manhunt star plays the former BBC News presenter in the feature-length factual drama, which premieres on Tuesday 24 March at 9pm on Channel 5
The series explores "the story of how a vulnerable 17-year-old was groomed by one of the most powerful figures in television", according to the synopsis, which continues: "The series explores the newsreader’s double life as it spirals out of control, leading him to make the greatest announcement of his career – his total exit from public life following his conviction for serious child sexual offences."
In September 2022, Edwards was one of Britain's most trusted newsreaders, chosen to deliver the historic announcement that Queen Elizabeth II had died.
A year later, his online activity was exposed.
Below are the facts - mainly public known but if don’t want to know till watch the programme then stop reading
In 2023, The Sun published allegations that a BBC presenter had paid a young person (https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a44480790/bbc-responds-presenter-accused-paying-teenager-explicit-photos/) for sexually explicit photos, with the BBC suspending this male presenter in response (https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/reality-tv/a44484380/bbc-presenter-suspended-explicit-photos-teenager/). The presenter was then confirmed to be Edwards by his wife Vicky Flind (https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a44520185/huw-edwards-named-bbc-suspended-presenter/), which prompted a police investigation.
Edwards received three charges of making indecent images of children (https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a61727897/bbc-huw-edwards-charged-indecent-images/) between December 2020 and April 2022.
He pleaded guilty (https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a61748562/huw-edwards-pleads-guilty-indecent-child-images/) at Westminster Magistrates Court, and was given a suspended sentence (https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a62221949/huw-edwards-sentence-indecent-child-images/).
The programme also documents how Edwards struck up a separate online friendship with a man called Alex Williams, who between 2020 and 2021 sent him messages containing child abuse imagery that he accessed.
It led to Edwards’s conviction in 2024 for accessing indecent images of children as young as seven, for which he was given a six-month suspended prison sentence.
The court heard that Edwards had been involved in online chat with an adult man on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021, who sent him 377 sexual images, of which 41 were indecent images of children. The bulk of these, 36, were sent during a two-month period.
The man told Edwards that the boy was quite young-looking and that he had more images which were illegal. Mr Edwards told him not to send any illegal images, the court was told. No more were sent, and the pair continued to exchange legal pornographic images until April 2022.
"It is only the images that are the subject of the charges that came via a WhatsApp chat. Mr Edwards did not keep any images, did not send any to anyone else and did not and has not sought similar images from anywhere else."
Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards (https://www.theguardian.com/media/huw-edwards)includes an onscreen message from the alleged victim at the end of the programme in which says he hopes his story will help others who feel powerless.
Given the name “Ryan Davies” to protect his identity, he worked with producers on the scripts and says in his message: “I chose to tell my story now for the first time so that no one who has been silenced feels they are alone.
Your truth matters and it deserves to be heard.”
Now aged 23, Ryan adds: “After years of struggle, I have finally overcome my battle with drugs.
I refuse to let Huw Edwards or what he did define who I am or the life I will yet lead.”
Ryan is played by Osian Morgan , most recently seen in under salt marsh as Alfie