Deadline reported that former BBC News anchor Huw Edwards has issued a statement condemning the release of Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards on Paramount UK network Channel 5. Edwards had previously been silent since receiving a suspended prison sentence for pleading guilty to accessing child abuse images.

After being named in a 2023 allegation for paying a teenager for sexually explicit images and subsequently resigning from the BBC in early 2024, Edwards pled guilty later that year to charges related to distribution and accessing of indecent images of children.

mxdwn previously reported on the removal of Edwards’ appearances in archive footage amidst the fallout of his scandal – A Doctor Who episode was pulled from iPlayer and later re-released with dubbing over to remove his voice in a news clip. They had also removed an episode from season 17 of The Great British Menu featuring Edwards as a judge.

In the statement, originally issued by The Daily Mail and reported by Deadline, Edwards claims that the team behind the upcoming docudrama series “made no attempt” to verify the background story before filming. He also revealed plans to tell his side of the story.

“[They] made no attempt to check with me the truth of any aspect of their narrative before going ahead with the production,” Edwards said in his statement. “They belatedly asked for a response after the drama had been made, while reserving the right to edit any such response. They also refused to disclose whether any of those making allegations had been paid for their contributions. Channel 5’s ‘factual drama’ is hardly likely to convey the reality of what happened.”

Per Deadline, a spokesperson from Channel 5 said that the Wonderhood-produced drama would comply with UK broadcasting rules, that it was based on extensive interviews, and that allegations were presented to Edwards more than a month before transmission.

Continuing with Edwards’ statement, via Deadline:

“My deep regret and remorse for the crimes I committed were expressed in court. In pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity, I took full responsibility for my reprehensible actions. I am repelled by the idea that some people enjoy viewing indecent images of children. Every image represents an innocent victim. I offer my sincere and profound apologies for what I did.

I am making an effort to produce my own account of these terrible events. This is a slow process, given the fragile state of my health. I have been open about my struggle with persistent mental illness over a period of 25 years. What is less well known is the severity of that condition, which was managed successfully until the downward spiral which led to an appalling outcome.

Mental illness is misunderstood by many but can never be an excuse for criminality. It can, however, at least help explain why people sometimes behave in shocking and reprehensible ways, and why things fell apart for me in the way they did.”

As stated prior, Edwards received a six-month suspended prison sentence in September 2024 and publicly apologized for his offenses, and was also ordered to undergo sex offender rehabilitation whilst being placed on the sex offender registry for seven years.

Via Deadline, Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards stars Martin Clunes (Doc Martin, Men Behaving Badly) as the title character and is based on extensive interviews and reports with evidence throughout the case timeline. A spokesperson from Channel 5 assured that the series “has been produced in accordance with Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code,” and that “all allegations made in the film were put to Huw Edwards via his solicitors 6 weeks before transmission.”