Key Points
- He used subtle makeup, pinned-back ears, and lip alterations to mimic Edwards' appearance
- Clunes studied archive footage and off-the-record interviews to capture Edwards’ on- and off-screen persona
- Channel 5’s fact-based drama, airing 24 March, frames Edwards’ fall as irreversible and sparks controversy
MARTIN Clunes is stepping into one of his most challenging roles yet, portraying former BBC news anchor Huw Edwards in Channel 5’s fact-based drama Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards.
The film traces Edwards’ fall from trusted broadcaster to convicted offender, and Clunes says the story leaves little room for redemption, describing the character’s downfall as one with “no way back.”
The drama recreates Edwards’s famous BBC News at Ten desk and explores both his public image and private life.
In an interview with The Guardian, Clunes said he approached the role as a professional challenge, insisting he had no hesitation about taking it on despite the controversy surrounding the subject.
“No,” he said. “Because it’s my job. Roles don’t take me over.”
To capture Edwards’s look and mannerisms, Clunes underwent subtle makeup work, including having his ears pinned back and his lips visually reduced.
He also closely studied archive footage, especially Edwards’s widely remembered announcement of Queen Elizabeth II’s death, saying he wanted to get the performance “exactly right.”
Clunes revealed he researched the role by speaking off the record with people who had worked with Edwards, as well as watching interviews, podcasts and behind-the-scenes footage to understand how the presenter behaved away from the news desk.
He said he was particularly interested in showing not just the polished public figure, but the man behind the image.
The actor, best known for Doc Martin and Men Behaving Badly, has increasingly taken on darker dramatic material in recent years. Alongside this role, he also appears as Mr Earnshaw in Emerald Fennell’s upcoming Wuthering Heights adaptation.
Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards is set to air on Channel 5 on 24 March, and it is already attracting attention for its sensitive and controversial subject matter.
Why This Matters
Clunes’s portrayal of Huw Edwards forces public debate about dramatizing real-life scandals, ethical responsibilities toward victims and subjects, and how broadcasters confront reputational collapse—a provocative cultural test of journalism, accountability and entertainment’s appetite for controversy.
