McAlister played a crucial role in making the infamous Prince Andrew interview happen.
The first of two dramatisations of the infamous Prince Andrew Newsnight interview has just arrived on Netflix – with Scoop now available to watch globally on the streamer.
Whereas the upcoming Prime Video miniseries A Very Royal Scandal will focus on the build-up to the interview from the perspective of Emily Maitlis, this film is told through the lens of another woman who played an instrumental role: Sam McAlister.
McAlister is played in the film by Billie Piper, who is joined in the cast by a number of other recognisable faces, including Rufus Sewell as Prince Andrew, Gillian Anderson as Maitlis and Keeley Hawes as Prince Andrew’s private secretary Amanda Thirsk.
But who exactly is McAlister? Read on for everything you need to know.
Who is Sam McAlister? Billie Piper’s Scoop character explained
Sam McAlister is a trained barrister and former Newsnight producer and guest booker who played an instrumental role in making the infamous Prince Andrew interview happen.
As is seen in the film, McAlister took part in negotiations with Prince Andrew’s private secretary Amanda Thirsk to bring about the interview after first convincing her Newsnight colleagues it was a lead worth pursuing.
In total, she worked on Newsnight for 12 years until 2021, when she took voluntary redundancy, and went on to write a memoir titled Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews., which was published in 2022.
Among the other interviews she helped to bring about were exclusives with Stormy Daniels, Sean Spicer, Brigitte Höss, Steven Seagal, Mel Greig and Julian Assange.
In addition to writing, she now also works as a professional speaker – and gave a TEDx Talk earlier this year.
Speaking in the film’s press notes, producer Hilary Salmon said of McAlister: “Sam is a force of nature. She’s larger than life – and neither of those two descriptions are clichés in Sam’s case. She’s not the sort of person that you would expect to find in a BBC office, let alone on BBC Newsnight, this serious engine of news.
“And she’s also that kind of fish out of water figure, who nevertheless is the truth teller – she was the one who said, ‘We need this interview, it’s going to be good. It’s going to be big. It might feel like celebrity journalism to you but actually, it’s important and it will be massive. And she was right.”
In an interview with Radio Times magazine, Piper said: “When I met her I thought, ‘Oh my god, your spirit is unlike anyone I’ve ever met in your industry!’ And it’s obviously the key to her success.
“We have quite similar working-class backgrounds. She’s also this absolute force of nature. Not chilly. Not steely – although I wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of her – but incredibly likeable and bright.”
Meanwhile speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, McAlister revealed how surreal it was to be played by Piper.
“You wouldn’t envisage that even for a second,” she said. “I thought basically my mum would read the book, I felt hugely lucky to get to write a book even, particularly in the current climate.
“So to imagine that it would get some sales and then ended up as a Netflix movie with Billie Piper playing me? I mean, you’d think I was drunk if I said that! So I couldn’t have imagined it, even if I was being really fantastical.”
Scoop will be available to stream on Netflix from Friday 5th April 2024. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on.
Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.