Martin Clunes believes no one in the UK truly knows the story of disgraced BBC news anchor Huw Edwards.

Edwards, who paid a teenager at the BBC for sexual pictures and subsequently pled guilty to making indecent images of children, is the subject of a new drama for Paramount UK network 5 starring the Wuthering Heights actor as the lead.

As he was learning lines and rehearsing, Clunes said he realized there was plenty of misinformation swirling around Edwards.

“Did anybody here know the whole story before the show?,” asked Clunes of the audience at yesterday’s London screening of Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards. “There was a lot of fudgery around it. There was sympathy for him until they found what was on his phone but I think maybe everybody lost interest by that point because the next bit of news came along. Donald Trump had done something.”

The Edwards saga was a scandal for the BBC. In the 5 drama, which launches next week, Under Salt Marsh star Osian Morgan plays Ryan (not his real name), the teen who was groomed by Edwards and whose real-life counterpart consulted on scripts.

Edwards was a well regarded news anchor before the scandal and he was the one tasked with announcing the death of Queen Elizabeth II, along with overseeing the BBC’s general election coverage. Clunes therefore had a rich tapestry of archive to play with. “I don’t really sound like him, it was sort of my version of him,” he added. “There’s enough out there. We watched him every night. He sort of seeped in a bit.”

Clunes added that there was a “slight” difference between the way Edwards spoke on screen and off screen. He joked that his first thought after being approached for the role was “Michael Sheen’s busy,” a reference to the character actor who has played media folk like David Frost and Chris Tarrant down the years.

Clunes got to know his co-star Morgan rehearsing the long phone calls that take place in the drama between his character Edwards and Morgan’s character Ryan. “That was the perfect way to get that genuine intimacy,” he added.

Morgan said playing Ryan is “one of the proudest things I’ve ever done in my life” and he was glad when he landed the role as he had previously been “coming to terms with the fact that my niche in this business was going to be playing antagonists.” “So I was desperate for it,” he added.

The drama is produced by documentary maker Wonderhood Studios. Exec producer Sam Anstiss said now is the time for Edwards’ victim to tell his story.

“People have talked about the timing of this drama, and I’d say the timing is really right because the victim feels it’s right,” she said. “He’s ready to tell his story, and there are really urgent themes in this drama around online safety, child pornography, the leniency of the sentencing.”