A new factual drama set in the ’70s has been commissioned by the BBC.
Dragon Slayers will explore 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.
Leading the cast will be Emmy award-winning Welsh actor Matthew Rhys as Harry.
The six-part series from the executive producers of Mr Bates vs The Post Office has been written by BAFTA award-winner Peter Bowker (The A Word, Marvellous).
“Telling the story of Harry Evans and the work of his Insight team is both a privilege and a joy,” commented Bowker.
“Having Matthew leading the cast is more than we could have hoped for,” the writer added. “All of us are now united by a desire to honour the passion, doggedness and humour of this remarkable group of people. I hope the drama will make us take a fresh look at both journalism and that much maligned decade – the 1970s.”
The BBC’s Director of Drama, Lindsay Salt, promises “a rollercoaster story,” describing the series as “gripping and powerful.”
Here’s the official synopsis: “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.”
Dragon Slayers will premiere in the UK on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in 2027.
The scripts are 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.
