The Trial of Christine Keeler

The Profumo affair of the 1960s makes for excellent drama - no surprises there, as it is a fascinating story with interesting 'side details' as well. The acting is superb - Norton as Stephen Ward is particularly brilliant, but Sophie Cookson as Keeler and Ben Miles (aka Patrick from Coupling) as Profumo delight as well. The only thing that lets it down is the way they have chosen to tell it. First of all flipping back between the years seems unnecessary and makes it all a bit itty-bitty. Second, although there's nothing wrong with the feminist framing on Keeler's perspective as it keeps the story fresh, the choice to have Keeler narrate the events (saying rather obvious things) makes the whole thing a bit fisted (a shame, as the writing and script the rest of the time is fine). They should have trusted the audience to be able to take in the message without spoon feeding it to them.

James Norton and Sophie Cookson are a revelation in this series. Powerful and relevant tale for our times. I'm loving this series.

Can just about remember the Profumo affair so was interested to see how it was treated.

Think the story is accurate as I remember it and showing it from Keeler's perspective gives some insights into its twists and turns.

On the downside, the constant flashbacks add little to the narrative other than confusion and James Norton is unbelievably wooden as Stephen Ward.

Just seen episode 5 and I would modify my view on James Norton's performance during the trial. Still think he was poor up to that point but redeems himself in this episode.

By contrast, Sophie Cookson is both totally believable and looks remarkably like the eponymous character.

His constant repetition of "little baby!" when speaking to Christine is grating and, probably, out of character even for early sixties vernacular.

Could have been much better....

Some of these reviews bewilder me. The story is well,and accurately told and beautifully acted. It really catches the spirit of the time, a time I remember.

I don't know how a audience can give assessment to a series by just one or two episodes. But some of the low score comments really irritates me. People may get wrong impression basing on such rash verdict.To avoid this, I feel obligated to give my assessment earlier than my usual way. It makes a good beginning in my eyes.I got at least 2 concerns about the story. The first of them is the mysterious identity of Stiffen, Why he cumulated the secrets of the politicians?for personal interest or for a national one. The second one is whether the story will end up as Jeffrey Epstein. By the way,I'm a audience from China.