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SCOOP

(15) 103mins

★★★★☆

THERE are now a disconcerting number of dramas that are quickly made after true events.

Whether it’s a village serial killer or the Covid inquiry debacle, it seems that producers are desperate to make a real-life tale.

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And, as a viewer, this can be slightly dull as you always know how it ends.

So it was with trepidation that I watched Scoop — the story of Prince Andrew’s explosive 2019 interview with Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis.

How could anything be more enthralling than the car-crash interview itself?

‘Tough gig’

Well, this insight into how the sensational booking happened in the first place is fascinating enough to keep any ‘but I know this already’ viewer interested.

Scoop concentrates on the story of the unknown, junior producer who managed to bag the interview with Prince Andrew — and how she did it.

Single mum Sam McAlister (Billie Piper) works part time at Newsnight, takes the bus to work and eats kebabs on the journey home.

Her mum (played by Amanda Redman) looks after her son while she works tirelessly to book guests for the BBC show.

It’s a tough gig.

And when she receives a message from Prince Andrew’s publicist Amanda (Keeley Hawes) to see if she wants to cover a charity event on Newsnight, Sam uses it as an opportunity to build a relationship with those inside the Palace.

Straight-talking Sam, who wears a uniform of top-to-toe black leather and leopard print boots, is called “too defensive” by her BBC colleagues.

They don’t think she’s up to the job.

Apart from her editor, Esme (Romola Garai) who allows Sam the time and space she needs to gain Amanda’s trust, finally persuading Prince Andrew (Rufus Sewell) to have a meeting with them in the Palace.

A moment where Sam reminds him that he currently has the reputation of “randy Andy”.

Maitlis (Gillian Anderson) is also at the meeting, with her pen-holding interview technique described as a thing of wonder: “Harry Potter has his wand, Emily Maitlis has her Bic,” says Sam.

Anderson shines as the standout performance, morphing into Maitlis.

And Sewell is a close second with his rhino-skinned Andrew.

Based on the hit book by McAlister, Scoops, this Netflix saga of the 13-month negotiations that led to the breathtaking moment Prince Andrew set fire to his life is captivating.

Even if you’d already heard that he didn’t sweat.

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Monkey Man

(18) 121mins

★★★☆☆

WHATEVER happened to that nice young man from Skins?

After entertaining pensioners in two Marigold Hotel films and playing a sprightly David Copperfield, Dev Patel is rebranding himself as an action hero.

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And what a transformation it is.

His self-directed Monkey Man is the most brutal revenge movie since the last John Wick flick.

An acrobatic Patel is surprisingly convincing as The Kid, a bare-knuckle fighter in a monkey mask from a fictional Indian city.

Suffering with flashbacks about the police chief who murdered his mother and torched his village, he gets a shot at revenge when he spots the cop while working at a sleazy nightclub.

But after an assassination attempt goes wrong, our hero needs to punch, stab and brawl his way up goon-packed levels to get another shot.

The John Wick movies are an obvious influence (the Keanu films even get a name check), but the unusually chaotic fight sequences have an energy all of their own.

Monkey Man takes itself too seriously but Hollywood’s unlikeliest action man has the moves and charm to keep you watching.

SEIZE THEM!

(15) 91mins   

★★☆☆☆

DURING the first half-hour of this cheap and cheerless medieval comedy, you may wonder if you’ve wandered into a kids’ film.

The jokes are tame, the performances are hammy and the naff costumes look like they’ve been borrowed from the nearest museum’s dressing-up box.

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So it’s a real popcorn choker when someone drops the first F-bomb.

Our setting is a fictional Dark Ages kingdom, where despotic Queen Dagan (Sex Education’s Aimee Lou Wood) is being besieged by a thoroughly unconvincing CGI army.

After rebel leader Humble Joan (Derry Girls’ Nicola Coughlan) bursts through the flimsy castle door and seizes the throne, the shrill Queen goes on the run.

Her plan is to escape to the kingdom of her royal Scandinavian cousins (including a criminally underused Paul Kaye).

Along the way, they recruit the help of nice-but- dim peasant Bobik (Nick Frost) and are hunted by Joan’s steely adviser Leofwine (Jessica Hynes).

Frost gets a few amusing lines, but Blackadder and Monty Python fans may wonder if British comedy has entered its own Dark Age.

Andy Lea