Skyfallen
29th July 2024
Criminal charges against a famous newsreader could necessitate an edit to Skyfall
By MI6 Staff
Share The Story
Disgraced BBC newsreader Huw Edwards, who appeared as himself in the 2012 James Bond film 'Skyfall', is now facing serious criminal charges. A conviction could lead to a difficult situation for producers on whether or not to digitally remove him from the movie.
Edwards has been charged with three counts of making indecent images of children and will appear at Westminster magistrates court on Wednesday on charges relating to images shared on a WhatsApp chat.
A Met spokesperson said: “The offences, which are alleged to have taken place between December 2020 and April 2022, relate to images shared on a WhatsApp chat. Edwards was arrested on 8 November 2023. He was charged on Wednesday 26 June following authorisation from the Crown Prosecution Service. He has been bailed to appear at Westminster magistrates court on Wednesday 31 July.”
Edwards left his position as the highest-paid newsreader at the BBC in April after being accused of paying a teenager for sexually explicit photographs.
The situation creates a problem for James Bond producers on how to handle his appearance in 'Skyfall' - do they leave his scene intact, or do they try and remove or replace him?
Edwards' scene comes at 1 hour 7 minutes into the film, immediately after the Bond/Severine shower scene. His voice can be heard over the establishing shot of London at night where M and Mallory are watching the BBC 10 o'clock news. The MI6 crisis and the leaking of an MI6 agent's assassination is the top story:
"Good evening. The controversy surrounding the Ministry of Defense has escalated today, as images of the Husein assassination continue to circulate. We should warn you, some viewers might find these images disturbing. Captain Husein, an MI-6 operative embedded in the Middle East, was one of the five agents exposed in what is now being considered the greatest internal security breach in modern British history. The Prime Minister continues to express public support for MI-6, while the opposition has taken the position..."
Although the voice-over would be easy to swap out, unfortunately, the scene includes a close-up of the newsreader on Mallory's television.
There is some speculation that an alternative version of the film for North American audiences had Wolf Blitzer of CNN deliver this scene. However, that is simply confusion over the earlier news story of the MI6 explosion which Bond watches from a bar in Turkey (such a location would not have UK BBC news, so using CNN made sense).
Several Hollywood films have used reshoots to remove performers accused of wrongdoing, but to date, no James Bond film has been altered to remove an actor.
UPDATE: Huw Edwards pled guilty to all charges in court on Wednesday 31st July 2024. He will be sentenced on 16th September and faces possible prison time.
