Ofcom launches probe into Huw Edwards drama Power

DAILYMAIL.COM • 1h ago

By AIDAN RADNEDGE, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER 16:38 19 Oct 2026, updated 17:31 19 Oct 2026

Channel 5’s Huw Edwards drama starring Martin Clunes is being probed by Ofcom after the disgraced ex-newsreader made a complaint about ‘fairness and privacy’.

Power: The Downfall Of Huw Edwards, which aired in March, was a dramatic depiction of the BBC’s former flagship news presenter’s fall from grace.

The drama recounted how Edwards – played by Clunes – was given a suspended jail sentence for making indecent images of children, and also interacted with a 17-year-old known as ‘Ryan’.

Convicted paedophile Edwards, 65, previously criticised the two-part series for being ‘one-sided’ and promised a ‘challenge’.

It is now the subject of an Ofcom investigation after the broadcast regulator received a complaint about its fairness.

The Daily Mail can reveal that Edwards made the complaint himself – a fact he confirmed in a statement today.

Channel 5 said it would be ‘robustly defending’ the series, which was produced by Wonderhood Studios.

Edwards pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images in July 2024, for which he was given a suspended six-month prison sentence that September.

Among the pictures were seven category A images – the most serious classification – sent to him on WhatsApp by convicted sex offender Alex Williams.

Married father-of-five Edwards was sentenced at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

Campaign groups were furious that he was not jailed, but the sentence could not be reviewed because it was handed down at a magistrates court, rather than at a Crown court where sentences can be deemed unduly lenient.

Clunes, whose previous series have included lighter fare such as Men Behaving Badly and Doc Martin, won critical acclaim for his performance in the Channel 5 show.

But Edwards, who has previously labelled the programme’s depiction of the saga ‘misleading’, says he intends to hold its producers to account over what he claims was an ‘unfair version of events’.

In his statement to the Mail, the former newsreader said: ‘I am relieved that Ofcom has seen fit to investigate the “factual drama” made by Channel 5 and Wonderhood Studios.

‘I make absolutely no excuses for my interactions with “Ryan” and will always feel deep remorse for having responded to his messages. Ryan was not a “minor”. He was an adult. He was also a blackmailer.

‘The drama gave viewers a wholly misleading and unfair version of events. I was not given a fair opportunity to respond to the many inaccuracies and fabrications in the programme.

‘I can say no more at this stage. I hope Ofcom is allowed to consider my complaint objectively, free from intimidation from hostile parts of the press.’

Under Ofcom rules, fairness and privacy complaints can only be made by someone directly affected by the programme, or by a party on their behalf.

An Ofcom spokesperson said today: ‘We are investigating a fairness and privacy complaint about this programme.’

A 5 spokesperson said: ‘We stand by the programme and will be robustly defending this complaint.’

The channel previously defended the drama in March this year, saying it was ‘based on extensive interviews with the victim, his family, the journalists who revealed his story, text exchanges between the victim and Edwards, and court reporting’.

A spokesman added: ‘It has been produced in accordance with Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code.

‘All allegations made in the film were put to Huw Edwards via his solicitors six weeks before transmission.’

Barry Tomes, a publicist who has provided representation for Edwards, told the Daily Mail today: ‘Since the initial furore surrounding the broadcast of the docudrama, I have been offered many TV and interviews – Edwards has turned them all down.

‘He originally discussed with me at great length the inaccuracies in the docudrama and he intended to put the record straight.

‘He also complained that they only approached him for comment after the programme had been recorded.’

Edwards resigned from the BBC in April 2024 on medical advice, having been off air since the previous July after becoming the subject of allegations that he paid a young person for sexually explicit images.

He has since launched a Substack newsletter, sharing his views on his former employer the BBC as well as politics and his mental health.

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