A Very English Scandal: Sex, Lies and a Murder Plot at the Heart of Establishment-Fast Shipping

Description

The basis for the Emmy award-winning limited series
starring Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw

A behind-the-scenes look at the desperate, scandalous private life of a British MP and champion manipulator, and the history-making trial that exposed his dirty secrets

While Jeremy Thorpe served as aMember of Parliament and Leader of the Liberal Party in the 1960s and70s, his bad behavior went under the radar for years. Police andpoliticians alike colluded to protect one of their own. In 1970, Thorpewas the most popular and charismatic politician in the country, poisedto hold the balance of power in a coalition government.

ButJeremy Thorpe was a man with a secret. His homosexual affairs andharassment of past partners, along with his propensity for lying andembezzlement, only escalated as he evaded punishment. Until a dark nighton the moor with an ex-lover, a dog and a hired gun led to consequencesthat even his charm and power couldn’t help him escape.

Dubbed the “Trial of the Century,” Thorpe’s climactic case at the OldBailey in London was the first time that a leading British politicianhad stood trial on a murder charge, the first time that a murder plothad been hatched in the House of Commons. And it was the first time thata prominent public figure had been exposed as a philandering gay man,in an era when homosexuality had only just become legal.

With the pace and drama of a thriller, A Very English Scandal is an extraordinary story of hypocrisy, deceit and betrayal at the heart of the British Establishment.