CW: mention of rape.
Areas of central Oxford will be closed later this month for the filming of the Netflix series Anatomy of a Scandal.
A notice was released by Oxfordshire County Council earlier this week which informed residents of the closures of streets in the city centre on March 25th and 26th. Catte Street and New College Lane road will be closed from 6pm to 2am on the 25th. On March 26th Brasenose Lane, Catte Street, St Mary’s Passage and Radcliffe Square will be closed from 2.30pm to 2am.
The six episode series will follow the storyline of the best-selling novel by Sarah Vaughan. The author, who read English at Brasenose College, is also the executive producer of the Netflix adaptation. The novel tells the story of a scandal shrouded in privilege and intrigue among the British elite and the women caught in its crossfires. The show, from the creator of Big Little Lies David E. Kelley, is directed by S.J. Clarkson, who has worked on Succession and Orange Is the New Black.
Netflix describe the show as “an insightful and suspenseful series about sexual consent and privilege set in London”. When James Whitehouse, a Westminster politician, is accused of raping his young reseacher and mistress his marriage and the lives of three women are changed immeasurably. His wife Sophie, who James met while at Oxford, is determined to clear her husband’s name. Meanwhile Kate, the prosecutor on the case, wants to make him pay for his crimes.
The charismatic politician is played by Rupert Friend, a native of Stonesfield, Oxfordshire and famed for his role as CIA operative Peter Quinn on Homeland. American-British actress Sienna Miller will star as society woman Sophie who is convinced of her husband’s innocence. Kate, the ambitious and emotionally detached defence barrister, is played by Michelle Dockery who is best known for her role as Lady Mary Crawley on Downton Abbey.
The first season of the show will be self-contained but the show’s producers hope to create an anthology style series and devote subsequent seasons to different scandals. It is expected that the show will premiere sometime in 2021 but a release date has not been announced.
Image: Ozeye. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.
