24-05-2025
BBC spy thriller hailed as 'the best series about a true story in a long time' finally lands on Netflix - and viewers 'binge it all in two days'
A BBC spy thriller hailed as 'the best series about a true story in a long time' has finally landed on Netflix.
The six-part programme, The Trial of Christine Keeler, reenacts the story of the 1960s Profumo affair.
Sophie Cookson, 35, stars as Keeler, whose sexual liaisons with Tory Minister John Profumo and a Russian military attache, based in London, led to one of the biggest political scandals of modern times.
The series originally aired on BBC One back in 2019 and has recently been added to Netflix.
Fans have raved about the drama over the years, which has an impressive 77% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
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Some viewers left their thoughts on The Trial Of Christine Keeler on Google and one penned: 'Excellent depiction of a true life drama and event that had everything from high suspense and gripped the viewer from beginning to the end.
'Christine really had a sad life and paid the ultimate price by being exploited by men from a very young age, being let down by her own parents.
'It also showed that men in high office could get away with almost anything. Just kept you on the edge of your seat throughout. And superbly acted by the entire cast.
'One of the best series of a true story I have seen in a long time that I literally binge watched over two days! Brilliant.'
Another added: 'I enjoyed this drama of a true event. It was to me more realistic of the event and the people involved and less of a showcase drama.
'The entire cast was superb. I have never heard of Sophie Cookson and she came across as credible and sympathetic to the memory of the real Christine.'
While someone else gushed: 'Loved it . Graham Norton was excellent , in fact Casting was brilliant. Probably one of the best TV series I've viewed.'
'A gripping story, great actors and actresses. Think the story was portrayed in a good way,' one viewer said.
Fans have raved about the drama over the years, which has an impressive 77% score on Rotten Tomatoes
It comes after TV fans were left gripped by another show, a 'masterpiece' period drama titled The English.
Written and directed by Hugo Blick, the show first hit our screens back in 2022.
The revisionist Western six-part series landed on Amazon Prime Video in the US, but was also released on BBC Two for those in the UK.
Although it was released three years ago, some only recently noticed the drama is available to watch on iPlayer.
What was the Profumo affair?
The Profumo affair had it all - sex, lies and espionage. It broke at the height of the Cold War, when spying was rife and the threat of war was imminent with the outbreak of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Here we look back at how the scandal unfolded:
April 1960: At the height of the Cold War, Christine Keeler, having left her home in Wraysbury, Berks, heads for London and begins working at Murray's Cabaret Club in Soho. It is there that she meets Dr Stephen Ward, a London osteopath. Within weeks she had moved into his Bayswater flat. She soon meets Mandy Rice-Davies at Murray's and the pair become party companions.
July 1961: Ward introduces 19-year-old Keeler to Secretary of State for War, John Profumo, while at a party thrown by Lord and Lady Astor at their stately home in Cliveden at Taplow, Bucks. Keeler and Profumo embark on an affair lasting only a few weeks. At the same time, she becomes involved in an affair with Commander Eugene Ivanov, a Soviet naval attaché at the Russian Embassy in London.
March 1963: After months of speculation among MPs, Profumo is forced to face the Commons, where he says: 'There was no impropriety whatever in my acquaintance with Miss Keeler and I have made the statement because of what was said yesterday in the House by three honourable members whose remarks were protected by privilege.'
June 1963: Ward is arrested in Watford and taken to Marylebone Police Station where he is charged with living off immoral earnings. His trial soon begins at the Old Bailey.
June 5, 1963: Profumo resigns his Cabinet post after admitting lying to the House of Commons about the nature of his relationship with Keeler.
August 1963: On the last day of his trial, Ward is found dead at his London home having taken an overdose of sleeping pills.
December 1963: Keeler is found guilty of perjury in a related trial and imprisoned for nine months.
1989: The Profumo affair is made into a film called Scandal, starring John Hurt, Ian McKellen and Joanne Whalley.
