Playing Huw Edwards a challenge on a number of levels - Martin Clunes

Doc Martin actor Martin Clunes has opened up on the challenges of portraying former BBC newsreader Huw Edwards.

Edwards was one of the UK's highest-profile journalists, delivering some of the biggest news stories over the last 40 years before being convicted of making indecent images of children.

As he prepares to appear as Edwards in a new drama, Clunes revealed he doesn't think actors should "ever be judging" the characters they play.

Even so, the Wuthering Heights star had heard from people who knew Edwards he "was never fun to work with".

Power: The Downfall Of Huw Edwards, focuses on how a young vulnerable man, played by Osian Morgan, came into contact with one of the most powerful figures in television.

"Beyond the salacious curiosity around this story, I really thought there was another story worth telling, that of [Edwards' victim] 'Ryan' and his family," said Clunes,

"Obviously the press and the media have focused on the fallen big man, Huw Edwards, which, of course, is a big story.

"But behind that, there's this lad and his family whose lives got turned upside down and rather spoiled. I'm not on any social media and I had no idea that this sort of thing went on, I really didn't."

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 in April and was charged in June 2024 following a Metropolitan Police investigation.

In September 2024, Edwards was sentenced to a six-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, at Westminster Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children.

After it was first reported a "top BBC presenter" had been suspended, Clunes says he was "surprised" when it was revealed to be Edwards.

He said: "You felt sympathy for him at first, because it just seemed like a person in the public eye was being outed in the newspapers.

"I can say from personal experience that newspapers only want to be nasty about people in the public eye.

"But then they found messages on his telephone, and that was a whole different ball game."

Bridgend- born Edwards was one of the BBC's highest paid newsreaders and played an integral role in covering the death of Queen Elizabeth II, as well as multiple general elections.

Men Behaving Badly star Clunes said: "How does something like this happen, with someone who is right in front of our faces every single night? There's a lot of curiosity there.

"I never met him, but I had spoken to people who did know him from the work environment, who were very interesting.

"More than one person told me he was never fun to work with, but I didn't know more than that."

As part of his research for the role, Clunes says he extensively studied archive footage of Edwards from his life on and off-screen.

"I was familiar with Huw Edwards, the newsreader, and how he presented himself when he was reading the news," he said.

"But I've seen other actors make the mistake of just inhabiting that projected face of a famous person or politician – I knew that we needed the other side of him too.

"Finding archive clips of Edwards away from the news was less easy, but I wanted to make sure I did.

In newly-released photos from the Channel 5 series, Clunes is transformed into Edwards - in one image, he's sitting in the former presenter's trademark position behind the news desk.

"I've always been a character actor and I like to submerge myself and try to be somebody else, that's part of the challenge," he said.

"So then when you're assisted by hair and makeup, you really don't feel like yourself any more."

The feature-length drama will see Edwards exchanging messages with victim 'Ryan', not his real name, who's played by Welsh actor Osian Morgan.

"A lot of our scenes are seemingly in isolation on phone calls, so we decided to both be there in the room for the other actor," said Clunes.

"I didn't feel very nice at the end of those scenes, so again it was definitely good to have Osian in the room to talk to afterwards."

With such a heavy subject matter, Clunes says he deals with it by being a "little facetious", despite taking his work seriously.

"I knew it would be a challenge on a number of levels," he said.

"It can be uncomfortable, but it's all part of the job and you just have to go there."

He added: "I certainly don't think you should ever be judging a character you're playing, you just have to find ways to get into character.

"I'm not attracted to men, but I'm attracted to women, so I know what it feels like to be attracted.

"Then sometimes with acting you just have to jump off the cliff and hope you land well – you don't want everything to feel measured and calculated."

Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards will air on 24 March on Channel 5 and its streaming service My5