Ofcom investigates Huw Edwards complaint over Channel 5 drama
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Britain’s media regulator is investigating a complaint from the former BBC news presenter Huw Edwards about a Channel 5 drama depicting his downfall.
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Ofcom said it was investigating Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards, which starred Martin Clunes and was broadcast earlier this year, under its “fairness and privacy” rules.
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The drama became the channel’s highest-rated show of the year after its broadcast in March, attracting 3.8 million viewers in four weeks.
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Edwards, once one of the BBC’s highest-paid newsreaders, confirmed to the Guardian that he had made the complaint. He said he had a series of concerns about its depiction of the events that led up to his disgrace.
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The 65-year-old pleaded guilty to accessing indecent photographs of children in July 2024 and was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years.
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The Channel 5 two-part series, produced by Wonderhood Studios and Krempelwood Entertainment, focuses on an earlier allegation made by the Sun in July 2023 that claimed that a “top BBC star” paid a teenager more than £35,000 for sexual pictures.
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Edwards was later revealed to be the star in question.
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He has previously claimed that the producers of the Channel 5 show failed to “check with me the truth of any aspect of their narrative”, saying that it was “hardly likely to convey the reality of what happened”.
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Channel 5 has defended the programme, saying it was based on “extensive interviews with the victim, his family, the journalists who revealed his story, text exchanges between the victim and Edwards, and court reporting”.
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When the broadcaster announced it was making the show, it said it would explore how someone “was groomed by one of the most powerful figures in television”.
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In a statement to the Guardian, Edwards said: “I am relieved that Ofcom has seen fit to investigate the ‘factual drama’ made by Channel 5 and Wonderhood Studios.
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“The drama gave viewers a wholly misleading and unfair version of events. I was not given a fair opportunity to respond to the many inaccuracies and fabrications in the programme.
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“I can say no more at this stage. I hope Ofcom is allowed to consider my complaint objectively, free from intimidation from hostile parts of the press.” A Channel 5 spokesperson said: “We stand by the programme and will be robustly defending this complaint.” Edwards appears to be disputing some of the details of his interactions with the person he is alleged to have groomed.
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Ofcom has not given details of the grounds for its investigation.
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However, under broadcasting rules, it can investigate “unjust or unfair treatment of individuals or organisations in programmes” or “unwarranted infringement of privacy in programmes”.
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The regulator will examine the material supplied by Edwards and Channel 5 before reaching a ruling. An Ofcom spokesperson said: “We are investigating a fairness and privacy complaint about this programme.” Edwards, who has been taking tentative steps back into public life with a blog, has previously suggested he planned to produce his own account of “these terrible events”.
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“This is a slow process given the fragile state of my health,” he said in March, before the broadcast of Channel 5’s drama.
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“I have been open about my struggle with persistent mental illness over a period of 25 years.
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What is less well known is the severity of that condition, which was managed successfully until the downward spiral, which led to an appalling outcome.
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“Mental illness is misunderstood by many but can never be an excuse for criminality. It can, however, at least help explain why people sometimes behave in shocking and reprehensible ways, and why things fell apart for me in the way they did.”
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