Is ‘Anatomy of a Scandal’ Based on a True Story?

Later this month, Netflix will premiere its newest prestige drama, Anatomy of a Scandal, and from the show’s plot, it certainly sounds like it could be ripped from the headlines.

The six-part series, which is set in London, stars Rupert Friend as a member of Parliament named James Whitehouse who is cheating on his wife, Sophie (Sienna Miller), with a younger woman on his staff. While James comes clean to his wife about the affair, things are further complicated when the woman accuses James of rape. Not only does Sophie not know how to handle the fact that her private life is turned upside down by her husband’s behavior, but the situation goes public when James is taken to court.

Michelle Dockery plays Kate, the prosecutor assigned to James’s trial, who is convinced of James’s guilt. The series was co-created by David E. Kelley and Melissa James Gibson, and is based on the book Anatomy Of A Scandal by Sarah Vaughan. Is the book and the TV series its based on real-life events?

Is Anatomy Of A Scandal a true story?

Anatomy Of A Scandal is not based on any one politician or real-life event. English writer Sarah Vaughan was a former courtroom correspondent and, later, a political journalist, and she has said that her experiences working in both fields informed the story in her book.

“While courtrooms and murder investigations helped me to write a thriller, it was through becoming a political correspondent that I became even more conscious of power, privilege and entitlement – all issues at the heart of Anatomy of a Scandal… I also saw how sex scandals involving politicians broke and played out,” Vaughan has written.

And while she has covered many politicians in her past, including current Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who have been embroiled in affairs and sex scandals, none have been involved in a story quite like the one she created for her book.

Anatomy of a Scandal premieres on Netflix on April 15.