The first episode of BBC drama The Trial of Christine Keeler shows an iconic moment that lit the touchpaper on the women involved in the ’60s sexual revolution. Keeler, a beautiful working-class 19-year-old, emerges naked from the swimming pool at Cliveden, the home of Tory MP Lord Astor. Watching her with a lascivious smile is the 46-year-old Secretary of State for War, John Profumo.
Their subsequent affair sparked a scandal that rocked the nation and, in 1963, helped bring down Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. It’s a story that has held a fascination ever since, encompassing sex, power, class and espionage, wrapped up in the irresistible glamour of its era. Yet until now, it’s never been told from the perspective of the woman at its centre.
The new six-part drama, which started on December 29, is written by BAFTA-winning screenwriter Amanda Coe, whose previous work includes Apple Tree Yard. It focuses on the impact the Profumo affair had on Keeler, played by Sophie Cookson, and her flatmate Mandy Rice-Davies, played by Ellie Bamber. In the post-#MeToo age, it offers a challenge to lingering assumptions about women whose private lives became public property. ‘Now feels like the perfect time to reconsider her life, and redress the balance,’ says Sophie of her character.
‘Researching the story, what struck me was that the young women at its centre have been treated as these transactional objects,’ Amanda tells Grazia. ‘We’d already started working on it when #MeToo happened, so we realised there couldn’t be a better time in terms of an audience hungry for a re- examination of a story we think we know.’
Keeler had a difficult upbringing, suffering extreme poverty and sexual abuse. She was working as a topless cabaret dancer in Soho when she met Stephen Ward, an osteopath, artist and friend to high society, played by James Norton. Ward groomed young women, introducing them to VIPs and aristocrats. Keeler had her fling with Profumo in 1961, and she was said to have been having an affair with Russian military attache Yevgeny Ivanov at the same time.
When the relationships came to light in 1963, amid fears of a Cold War security leak, the scandal exploded. The drama traces the fall-out, which was profound for all involved. Profumo resigned; later that year, Macmillan quit. Ward was convicted of vice charges and committed suicide. Keeler was hung out to dry by the male-dominated establishment and served time for perjury.
The drama subverts the stereotypical view of Keeler as either helpless victim or knowing minx. ‘She was complicated,’ says Amanda. ‘She embraced extremes and was incredibly young when this unfolded. She had no precedent to look to for how to deal with being at the centre of a media storm. But I really admired her. These powerful men never expected these girls to have their own voice. They could have closed the scandal down if they’d just treated these young women as human beings with agency. There was something quite heroic about the way Keeler would not subscribe to the narratives imposed on her, that she would just be this dumb, beautiful girl who would do what people told her.’
Sophie portrays Keeler’s strength and vulnerability, and shows her courage in the face of vilification, which lasted until her death in 2017. And today, Christine's son, Seymour Platt, praised Sophie's portrayal of his mother, telling Good Morning Britain, 'I think she is really good at playing my mum. There have been times where I have seen my mum in her.' He added, 'My mother was probably the most honest person I’ve ever met in my life. She would tell terrible secrets to anybody, particularly if they weren’t hers. I would like people to remember her more fondly.'
The public hatred of her was largely the result of her attitude to sex. ‘I’ve always been free with my love – it’s my nature,’ she said. Amanda says she was a prototype for what was to come. ‘She helped define that ’60s sensibility – that impulse to freedom,’ she says. ‘But it was only just beginning.’
The Trial of Christine Keeler is on Sundays on 9pm on BBC One
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