PAN is excited to report a factual drama has been commissioned by the BBC exploring the work of Sir Harry Evans, former editor of The Sunday Times, whose Insight team became a byword for investigative journalism and broke some of the biggest stories in UK history.
The drama is called Dragon Slayers and will feature Emmy award-winning actor Matthew Rhys (The Americans, The Beast in Me, Widow’s Bay) star as Harry in the six-part series from AC Chapter One and Universal International Studios for BBC iPlayer and BBC One, which will be written by BAFTA award-winner Peter Bowker (The A Word, Marvellous).
BBC say: ‘Harry’s Insight team took on powerful corporations, the legal establishment and often the government itself. Their commitment was to the readers of the newspaper and to the truth – often hidden, and sometimes dangerous to find.
They fought for the victims of Thalidomide, unmasking the cover-ups that kept the public in the dark about the scandal, they worked to uncover the truth behind the DC-10 crash – then the world’s worst air disaster, and they faced down treason charges in exposing Kim Philby as one of the most successful spies of the 20th century.
Set in the 1970s, Dragon Slayers will be based on wide-ranging research, published accounts and interviews with those who knew and worked with Harry – including his widow, editor, author and journalist Tina Brown CBE, and the Evans family.‘
I’ll keep an eye out for a program date – or let me know if you spot it first [email protected]