Julia Hartley-Brewer slams Scoop movie as 'snoozefest' – 'Better off watching paint dry'

This weekend, Scoop has landed on Netflix, recreating the infamous interview Prince Andrew had with Emily Maitlis about his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Rufus Sewell stars as the King’s brother opposite Gillian Anderson as the former BBC Newsnight presenter and Billie Piper as the producer who secured the exclusive.

The new movie has received mixed reviews ranging from 2 to 5 stars and now Julia Hartley-Brewer has weighed on what she thought was a really boring film.

Writing on X (formerly Twitter), this morning, the broadcaster said: “I watched Scoop last night, the Netflix drama of Newsnight’s interview with Prince Andrew. Don’t bother! What a snoozefest!

“While the actual Emily Maitlis interview was superb journalism, Scoop is deathly slow and ponderous.”

Julia continued: “The star-studded cast is wooden, and Gillian Anderson sounds more like Margaret Thatcher [who she played in The Crown] than Maitlis. You’re better off watching paint dry.”

She added: “The drama appears to imply that this interview was game-changing in bringing abusers to justice. It wasn’t. No victims were saved or helped in anyway.”

Asked if she started sweating while watching the movie, the broadcaster replied in the comments: “I did. But the waitress in Pizza Express brought me some napkins.”

Scoop is streaming now on Netflix.