The Jeremy Thorpe Scandal

Tweet from the BBC News Press Team on June 04 2018: staggering 1.6 million people tuned into @BBCPanorama's The Jeremy Thorpe Scandal last night - the highest ever audience for @BBCFour since 2011.

In fact the rating is higher than what a Panorama documentary normally gets on BBC1. It shows the fascination of the British public on the Jeremy Thorpe affair reignited by the broadcasting of the drama; A Very English Scandal.

The Jeremy Thorpe Scandal was an updated documentary that was originally due to be broadcast in May 1979. So convinced the press were that Thorpe would be found guilty at his trial for conspiracy to murder that in depth articles were already written and television programs were already made, just waiting for the guilty verdict to come in.

However the jury delivered a not guilty verdict and this Panorama could not be shown unless it was edited. Jeremy Thorpe never admitted to being a homosexual. As Thorpe died in 2014, the BBC cannot now be sued for libel.

Presenter Tom Mangold went through the details of Thorpe/Scott affair. How as soon as Thorpe got elected as a MP, the security services probed into any hidden skeletons. Mangold spoke to many of the main players such as Peter Bessell, Thorpe's confidant who gave evidence for the prosecution. A lot of what is shown is mirrored in the BBC drama A Very English Scandal. There is a hint that the Establishment in the early 1960s wanted to protect Thorpe as it was already reeling from incidents such as the Profumo affair.

This documentary was a good companion piece to the drama, it confirms that what we saw was not something far fetched but it was all true.