Martin Clunes as Huw Edwards in new Channel 5 drama Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards.

Martin Clunes can be seen for the first time as Huw Edwards in Channel 5’s newly released trailer for a drama documenting the downfall of the former BBC News anchor.

Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards sees Doc Martin star Clunes change direction to the weighty role as disgraced Edwards, who was at the peak of his career in broadcasting when he was convicted for serious child sexual offences.

In Channel 5’s first trailer, released on Thursday, 5 March, Clunes is shown sitting at the desk of a TV news studio and preparing to read a bulletin as he puts in his earpiece and looks at the autocue. He wears a suit, and his hair is slicked back in Edwards’ grey style.

An air date for the drama has not been released yet, but it is set to arrive soon on Channel 5 and will be the first collaboration between the channel’s scripted and factual commissioning teams. It was written by The Trial’s Mark Burt, and no other casting has yet been announced.

Huw Edwards anchored the BBC’s flagship 10pm news broadcast from 2003.
(BBC News & Current Affairs via G)

Edwards’ shocking crimes came to light after The Sun published reports of an unnamed, well-known BBC presenter paying a vulnerable teenager £35,000 in relation to sexual images in 2023.

The broadcaster’s wife, Vicky Flind, later named Edwards as the presenter after much public speculation about who it could be, and said that he was having hospital treatment for depression.

Martin Clunes will play the disgraced broadcaster.
(Ian West – PA Images via Getty Images)

During his time as a BBC News anchor, Edwards was responsible for announcing the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, leading general election coverage, and helming News at 10.

Edwards was arrested in November 2023, but did not leave the BBC until he resigned in April 2024.

He was convicted in July 2024 with three counts of making indecent images of children, which included receiving WhatsApp messages from a man he had met online of Category A child abuse images between December 2020 and April 2022. He had pleaded guilty to the charges.

Huw Edwards pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.
(Karwai Tang via Getty Images)

He had also solicited sexual images from young men online, which included grooming a vulnerable 17-year-old.

Edwards received a six-month suspended prison sentence for his crimes.