Disgraced newsreader Huw Edwards criticises Channel 5 drama on events leading to his conviction

Disgraced former BBC newsreader Huw Edwards has criticised a TV drama depicting events that led to his conviction for making indecent images of children.

Edwards, 64, who was born in Bridgend, admitted accessing 41 images, including one of a child aged between seven and nine, and received a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, in 2024.

He said Channel 5 made "no attempt to check with me the truth of any aspect of their narrative" in Power: The Downfall Of Huw Edwards, which focuses on how a vulnerable teenager came into contact with Edwards.

A Channel 5 spokesperson said the series was based on "extensive interviews with the victim and his family" as well as court reporting.

In July 2023, a national newspaper reported that "a top BBC star" had paid a teenager for sexual images.

Days later, Edwards' wife named him as the presenter at the centre of the scandal.

He resigned from the BBC on health grounds, before being charged in June 2024 following a Metropolitan Police investigation.

The former newsreader, who was raised near Llanelli, pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates' Court to three charges of making indecent images of children.

They included seven category A images, the most serious classification, and were sent to Edwards on WhatsApp by a 25-year-old convicted sex offender called Alex Williams.

Edwards was ordered to attend a sex offender treatment programme as part of his sentence.

In a statement, Edwards accused Channel 5 of "belatedly" asking him for a response after the drama had been made and claims the broadcaster "refused to disclose whether any of those making allegations" used in the research of the drama "had been paid for their contributions".

A Channel 5 spokesperson said the series 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".

They 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."

The two-part series will see Martin Clunes portray Edwards. Part one will air on Tuesday, 24 March at 21:00 GMT.