The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty is a three-part documentary series broadcast on BBC Two in 2020. Parallels have been drawn between it and the American series Succession.[1] It is about the business magnate Rupert Murdoch and his political influence, the News International phone hacking scandal and his children's battles to succeed him.
| The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Documentary |
| Directed by | Jamie Roberts |
| Narrated by | Kate Fleetwood |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 3 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer | Owen Phillips |
| Production company | 72 Films |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC Two |
Participants
editThe documentary has a cast that includes the British politicians Nigel Farage, Michael Heseltine, John Prescott and Tom Watson, the journalists Piers Morgan, Andrew Neil, Peter Oborne, Alan Rusbridger and David Yelland, the strategists Steve Bannon and Alastair Campbell, as well as Hugh Grant, Alan Sugar and former president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Max Mosley.[2][3][4]
Episodes
edit| No. in series | Title | Directed by | Original air date | UK viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Kingmaker" | Jamie Roberts | 14 July 2020 | N/A |
| 2 | "The Rebel Alliance" | Jamie Roberts | 21 July 2020 | N/A |
| 3 | "The Comeback" | Jamie Roberts | 28 July 2020 | N/A |
Reception
editIn The Guardian, Tim Dowling opined that "While this political drama is no less gripping for being so familiar, it also feels strangely remote. On the one hand, it is hard to believe these events happened as long as a decade ago; on the other, it is difficult to recall the mood of a time when phone hacking was all we had to worry about".[5]
References
edit- ^ Singh, Anita (14 July 2020). "The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty, review: enjoyably gossipy documentary indebted to Succession". The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
- ^ "The Rise Of The Murdoch Dynasty". BBC Media Centre. 14 July 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
- ^ Sherwin, Adam (7 July 2020). "Rise of The Murdoch Dynasty: BBC series reveals real-life Succession battle over Rupert Murdoch's media empire". inews. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
- ^ McGurk, Stuart (14 July 2020). "The BBC's The Rise Of The Murdoch Dynasty says more about Nigel Farage than Rupert Murdoch". British GQ. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
- ^ Dowling, Tim (21 July 2020). "The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty review – Succession with phone hacking and foam pies". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 July 2020.